In this world where finance and economics seems to have been compounding so much dismal news recently, my father http://www.normanmacrae.com/friends.html and I propose to start a thread on best news of the month. Next month in a parallel development we will be asking  10000 youth to join the search http://yunus10000.com - if you may want to help host a youth event in your region please contact me chris.macrae@...

 

Here is September's benchmark for good news of the month which may take some beating by any month

 

GRAMEEN TRUST AND FUNDACIÓN CARLOS SLIM ANNOUNCE JOINT VENTURE TO PROVIDE MICROCREDIT LOANS TO THE POOR IN MEXICO -- Venture will initially deploy $45 million (U.S.) for microcredit loans destined for needy individuals in the poorest regions of  Mexico.

 

Grameen Trust http://www.grameentrust.org is the international outreach affiliate of the Grameen Bank.

 

Fundación Carlos Slim A.C. (“Fundación Carlos Slim”), the family charitable foundation of Mexican businessman Carlos Slim Helú

 

Using the lending model pioneered by the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, Grameen Carso will provide small microcredit loans to poor individuals to enable them to create or expand small entrepreneurial initiatives.   These loans will not require collateral and instead will use a system of mutual support among the borrowers to encourage repayment.  Borrowers also will build savings during their loan-based relationship with Grameen Carso.  Based on Grameen Bank’s huge success in Bangladesh, where it serves over 7 million borrowers, and the success of other Grameen initiatives around the world, the joint venture expects that income from entrepreneurial activities will provide borrowers with a path out of poverty and a foundation for development of family health, education and general welfare.   Like the Grameen Bank, Grameen Carso expects to concentrate on loans to women, as experience has shown that women are the most successful and reliable borrowers.

 Grameen Carso reflects the commitment of Fundación Carlos Slim to greatly expand microcredit in Mexico for the benefit of persons who are excluded from the traditional banking system.

Professor Muhammad Yunus, who founded the Grameen Bank and shared the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize with the bank, said “it is obvious that poverty remains an enormous problem in Mexico and it also is obvious from the history of the Grameen Bank that microcredit provides a direct and efficient means of reducing poverty.  Through the entrepreneurial initiatives of borrowers and the education and financial training that are provided through the Grameen lending model, borrowers build economic foundations for themselves and for their families and they focus on improving their families’ education, health and general well-being.  Grameen Bank has shown that microcredit programs can be an economic success without charging exorbitant interest rates.  I am enormously excited by the opportunity to bring the Grameen model of microcredit to Mexico on a large scale and I am very grateful to Mr. Slim and his foundation for providing the resources necessary to make Grameen Carso a reality.  We welcome ideas and recommendations for improving the lives of the poor in Mexico and elsewhere”.

 

Bill Clinton http://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?pid=2827&srcid=2392 has said this of Carlos Slim:

Carlos Slim is one of the world’s most important philanthropists and most people have never heard about his humanitarian activities. He owns stock in more than 200 companies that employ more than 200,000 people in Latin America and beyond. He has used his resources to help develop the communities where his businesses are located. In his own country, Mexico, he has personally supported more than 165,000 young people in attending university, paid for numerous surgeries, provided equipment for rural schools and covered surety bonds for 50,000 people who were entitled to their freedom but could not afford. He recently created the Carso Institute for Health, and designed it to provide a new approach to health care in Mexico. He has four billion dollars of investments ready to promote education, health and other great challenges, and has recently announced an additional six billion dollar investment in several programs, including his Telmex Foundation."

 

chris macrae

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