A Letter to the Honorable Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh, on Grameen Bank
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A Letter to the Honorable Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh, on Grameen Bank Honorable Prime Minister Hasina, We are allies and friends of Bangladesh—men nutritionally rich food to impoverished com- would disenfranchise nearly 5 million borrow- and women, public servants and businesspeople, and munities; building health clinics to offer afford- er-shareholders in Grameen Bank, dismiss the bor- citizens whose countries have all known the sting of able medical care; and introducing solar power rowers who sit on the bank’s board of directors, and poverty. We write to commend your leadership in to rural areas without electricity. replace them with government officials. They would the fight to end poverty in your country, and to urge also result in the government seizing portions of the you to reject the findings of a recent commission — Their founder, Muhammad Yunus, has been Grameen businesses. that would jeopardize the role that Grameen Bank a tireless advocate for Bangladesh’s success in These are recommendations which you and and the Grameen family of businesses have played improving the lives of its people. your finance ministry have the right to reject. We in that fight. believe that implementing them could be disas- The Grameen family of businesses has deliv- Both Bangladesh and the international com- trous. They would lead Bangladesh to violate its ered a profound and lasting benefit to the people of munity have a compelling interest in the safety and obligations under bilateral investment treaties, and Bangladesh: soundness of these institutions. We commend you to compromise the independence that has protect- for ensuring that Grameen Bank and the Grameen ed Grameen Bank from political turmoil over the — Grameen Bank has allowed millions to lift businesses are operating in the interests of the peo- last three decades. Moreover, we are concerned that themselves and their families out of destitu- ple they are meant to serve. the Commission may not be presenting its work in tion, creating an independent, borrower-run However, the “Special Commission on good faith, after the prolonged absence of half the company and a model for NGOs the world Grameen,” created in May 2012, has not shown the commission’s members was disclosed in the inter- over. Its borrowers, 97% of whom are women, same concern for the well-being of these institutions. national press. have shown the power of an economic model We believe that it and its members are attempting You have continued Bangladesh’s progress in centered on equality and inclusion. to lead your government astray, and are putting the combatting poverty and expressed a commitment to Bangladeshi people and their allies at great risk. keeping Grameen Bank and the Grameen business- — The 54 other social businesses within the The Commission, which was set up to offer es healthy and stable for generations to come. We Grameen family have provided tailored ser- guidance on the future of the Grameen business- share that goal, and we urge you to reject any effort vices to the poor and underprivileged: rehabili- es, recently provided your Finance Minister with a by the Commission that would injure Grameen and tating Bangladeshi fisheries; bringing low-cost, set of recommendations. These recommendations the Bangladeshi people. Sincerely, Madeleine Albright Roger Altman Sheila Bair Sir Richard Branson Gro Harlem Brundtland Former U.S. Secretary of State; Executive Chairman, Evercore Former Chairman, Federal Deposit Founder and Chairman, Virgin Group; United Nations Special Envoy on Climate Chair, Albright Stonebridge Group Insurance Corporation Co-Founder, The B Team Change; Former Prime Minister of Norway Ursula Burns Kathy Calvin Gil Crawford Christopher Dodd Vicente Fox CEO, Xerox President and CEO, CEO, MicroVest Former Senior U.S. Senator for the Former President of Mexico UN Foundation Capital Management LLC State of Connecticut; Former Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking Edward M. Kelley Kerry Kennedy Arthur Levitt Eugene A. Ludwig Susan McCaw Governor (Ret.), President, Robert F. Kennedy Former Chairman, U.S. Securities and Founder and CEO, Former U.S. Ambassador Federal Reserve Board Center for Justice and Human Rights Exchange Commission Promontory Financial Group; to Austria Former U.S. Comptroller of the Currency Mairead Maguire Michael Moskow Frank Newman Thomas Nides Sally Osberg Nobel Peace Prize winner Former President and CEO, Former U.S. Deputy Secretary Former U.S. Deputy Secretary President and CEO, and peace activist Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago of the Treasury; Former Acting of State for Management Skoll Foundation U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Jan Piercy Robert Post Donald Powell Nicolas Retsinas Donald Riegle Former U.S. Executive Director, Dean of Yale Law School and Former Chairman, Federal Deposit Former U.S. Federal Former U.S. Senator from the State of World Bank Group Sol & Lillian Goldman Professor of Law Insurance Corporation Housing Commissioner Michigan; Former Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Development Jochen Sanio Paul Sarbanes George Shultz Ellen Seidman Jeff Skoll Former President, Federal Financial Former U.S. Senator from the Former U.S. Secretary of State Senior Fellow, Urban Institute Chairman, Participant Media Supervisory Authority, Bonn, Germany State of Maryland; Former Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Development Erik Solheim Strobe Talbott Alejandro Toledo Peter Tufano Ted Turner Former Norwegian Minister of Former U.S. Deputy Former President of Peru Peter Moores Dean and Professor Chairman, UN Foundation International Development and Secretary of State of Finance, Said Business School, Board of Directors Minister of the Environment University of Oxford Desmond Tutu Melanne Verveer Paul Volcker Timothy Wirth Jochen Zeitz Nobel Peace Prize winner and Executive Director, Georgetown Former Chairman, Vice Chairman, UN Foundation; Founder, Zeitz Foundation; former Anglican Archbishop Center for Women, Peace, and Security; Board of Governors of the Former U.S. Senator from the Co-Founder, The B Team Former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Federal Reserve System State of Colorado Global Women’s Issues Please visit Change.org to sign your name in support of Grameen Bank and the fight against poverty. The placement of this advertisement was paid for by RESULTS. For more information on how you can support Grameen Bank and the fight to end poverty, visit www.results.org/grameen..