The Grameen Project and Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Bangladesh
Dr. Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, has been an inspirational leader in establishing micro-credits as a way to fight poverty. In Dr. Yunus’ words: “Poverty is the absence of all human rights. The frustrations, hostility and anger generated by abject poverty cannot sustain peace in any society. For building stable peace we must find ways to provide opportunities for people to lead decent lives.”
In 1997, Grameen established Grameen Knitwear, a sister company of the Grameen Bank, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. hessnatur has joined with Grameen Knitwear by introducing organic manufacturing processes. hessnatur pays a bonus over fair purchase price, with the funds going directly to the Grameen Shikkha initiative. Within Shikkha hessnatur has established the hessnatur Scholarship program, to support the education of students in Bangladesh. This is the beginning of a long-term commitment from hessnatur to build a substantial product range through this enterprise, helping change the lives of the poor in Bangladesh.
Grameen means village in English. At hessnatur, we consider ourselves citizens of Dr. Yunus’ village.
Learn more about the Grameen Foundation and Grameen Knitwear: