NEWS RELEASES

October 14, 2006 (12:30 p.m. EDT)
No. 120

CANADA CONGRATULATES MUHAMMAD YUNUS AND THE GRAMEEN BANK ON WINNING THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, and the Honourable Josée Verner, Minister of International Cooperation and Minister for La Francophonie and Official Languages, today congratulated Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank on receiving the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.

“Canada echoes the sentiment of many countries in hoping that the awarding of the Peace Prize to Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank will help further world peace through economic prosperity,” said Minister MacKay. “Microfinance is a key component of Canada’s international efforts to help bring peace.”

“We are proud of the important work of Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank in lifting millions of poor Bangladeshi women out of poverty,” said Minister Verner. “It is an example, emulated now across the Third World, of how microfinance can make a real difference to the lives of the economically and socially disadvantaged.”

Canada will host the Global Microcredit Summit 2006 from November 12 to 15 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This summit will offer the opportunity for microfinance practitioners, advocates, donors, and others committed to the Summit’s goals to assess progress, discuss challenges to achieving the new goals for 2015, and identify strategies for overcoming those challenges.

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For further information, media representatives may contact:

Foreign Affairs Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
613-995-1874
http://www.international.gc.ca 

Pascale St-Pierre
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of International Cooperation
819-953-6238

Media Relations Office
Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
819-953-6534
info@acdi-cida.gc.ca