Diasprenører- Diaspora som brobyggere for bærekraftig business? Et seminar om modeller, eksempler og muligheter

Fra/til dato: 20.12.11

Sted: Grensen 9 b (6 etg), Oslo

Klokkeslett: 15.30-19.00
Møteleder: Alice Ennals (Utviklingsfondet)

Bakgrunn: Dette seminaret ønsker å sette fokus på hva som skal til for at Diaspora kan lykkes som entreprenører som kan bidra til sysselsetting og økonomisk vekst i opphavsland. Temaet er i vinden og vi ser at flere land i sør ønsker å tilrettelegge for at Diaspora kan bidra med kompetanse, nettverk, kunnskap og investeringer. Men hva er egentlig suksessfaktorene? Dette ønsker vi å belyse og har invitert businesskonsulenter og diasprenører til å dele erfaring og gi konkrete råd til de som har en grunder i magen.

Program: 1600 (etter matbit)

- Iwan Zunder (business konsulent fra Nederland): How to equip Diaspora with tools to allow them to build sustainable businesses

- Unni Beate Sekkesæter (Mikrofinans Norge)- Social business og entreprenørskap, konsepter og råd til oppstart (www.credinfo.no )

- Debritu Lestau (entreprenør og nettverker) A modern business with identity- the story of how Ethiopian coffee embraces students and coffee growers in Ethiopia on the one side, with European students and consumers on the other. (www.meleyafoundation.com )

- Godwin Brown Narnor (diasprenør). Trying to make business of urban biogas and my lifestory as an entrepreneur

- Felix Osok (diasprenør). Kompetanse og nettverk som inntektskilde- fra business til økologi med NABA (the Norwegian-African Business Association) (www.norwegianafrican.no)

- Somalisk eksempel (tbc)

- Diskusjon og oppfølging

Formål: Inspirere deltakere med eksempler og konkret kunnskap og råd fra inn og utland om hva som skal til for å lykkes som diasprenør. Skape et forum for diskusjon og kontakt, og hvis interesse å planlegge et oppfølgingsforum i 2012.

Målgruppe: Seminaret er beregnet for diaspora og de som jobber med bistand og businessutvikling i sør. Forskere, studenter og ansatte i bistands- og annen statsforvaltning er også velkommen.


Deltakeravgift: 100 kr (inkludert matbit fra 1530)

Påmelding og avmelding

Påmelding skjer via Bistandstorgets nettsider www.bistandstorget.no. Trykk på relevant arrangement i boksen på høyre side og følg instruksjonene. Avmelding skjer på e-post eller telefon til kontaktperson for arrangementet.

Kontaktperson i BT: Ane Mygland, ane@bistandstorget.no, 23 16 35 99/ 99 03 17 66
Påmeldingsfrist: 20.12.11

Finally some critical light on Brennpunkts Caught in Microdebt and what really happens in Bangladesh

Yunus critical to NRK

By Hege Opseth, Bistandsaktuelt hopseth@yahoo.com Translated by Unni Beate Sekkesæter

- If I am generous, the NRK Brennpunkt program was a piece of irresponsible journalism, says Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus to Bistandsaktuelt.

Muhammad Yunus speaks about the power struggle that was set on fire when NRK Brennpunkt showed a program about him and the Grameen Bank last year. He is not merciful to journalism in NRK. Photo: Scanpix


The NRK documentary is the direct cause of the Nobel Peace Prize winner having to leave his life's work - the Grameen Bank.

Today, he can no longer go out in the countryside and meet some of the millions of borrowers who have been part of his life for over 30 years. Yunus also cannot meet the Grameen Bank's first borrower - Sophia - which Brennpunkt said died as a poor woman. Those who were interviewed had nothing to do with her.
Sophia lives, we talk on the phone, they were talking to the wrong people in the program. It is extreme, it's terrible, says Yunus in an exclusive interview with Bistandsaktuelt. He adds that if he visits the villages that are part of the giant network of Grameen Bank, it will be looked upon with harsh eyes of the authorities in the country.
- They would say I try to influence the situation, so I cannot do this anymore, Yunus adds.

Muhammad Yunus is in Oslo in connection with the executive board meeting of the UN Foundation and conversations with Microfinance Norway.
- What has happened is very unfortunate. Half-truths and false claims, says Yunus about what was presented.

• Gives up his life's work - read about Yunus'avgang from Grameen Bank

Sad
In the power struggle for control of the world's first bank for the poor, the Norwegian program has frequently been used by Yunus' opponents. The allegations have been tough. He believes that what has happened has not only been devastating for him, but for the reputation of microfinance worldwide.

- The NRK documentary triggered much of what has happened and what is happening in Bangladesh now. The storm is far from over, it is still fierce and we do not see the end of it, says Yunus.

- How have you experienced the last few months?
- It feels terrible when you see that they have gone so far, we were totally unprepared and did not know how to handle the situation. Media is powerful and it is very difficult to change the impression created. Brennpunkt was the start that made all this happen.

- Are you bitter?
- I feel rather sad. You create something, people love it and the opportunities they have been offered through what is created. Then something totally irrational takes place, and I cannot even explain why this has happened. It is absolutely insane.

• International hero in the fight against the villain's role - read on Yunus' background

Yunus says that his opponents uses the information that came from Norway again and again and that for many it becomes a truth - even though many of the allegations have been refuted.
- Those who are critical of the Grameen Bank continues to talk about how bad it is with microfinance. Instead, it should have been celebrations - microfinance gives people dignity and work and it has directly affected the lives of people around the world, says Muhammad Yunus.

Accused of stealing
What was presented in Norway, was pulled out of all proportion in the country of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. There it was presented as if he had transferred money to his own accounts, something that never happened.

• Resigned after NRK documentary

- No one can explain why or who benefit from this. The borrowers were shocked and now they do not know what will happen next. The bank is based on a relationship of trust and if they feel they cannot have confidence they are very nervous. These are people who have a lot of money in the savings account. But I've got a lot of support, both internally and externally, says Yunus.
The cause of the power battle and “dirty laundry wash” is the result of some personal vendetta, according to some. And according to others, there are political motives following the government's desire to gain control of the bank that has a giant network that covers large parts of Bangladesh.

- What do you think is the cause?
- I choose not to comment this as it will only backfire on me.

• Found Innocent in new report - read the documents that absolve Yunus

Future
A new chairman of the board is appointed, but it is not yet clear who will take over the CEO position. 97 percent of Grameen Bank is owned by the borrowers, the remaining three percent are owned by the authorities in their country. Yunus fear that the new director will be handpicked by the government.
- In this way they will they be able to take all the decisions, he said.

- Is what has happened the end of the Grameen Bank, as we know the institution?

- We are very worried. But we are waiting until a new Managing Director is elected. If he is independent and the Chairman does not force him to make decisions, then we say that it is OK. But yes, we are worried, Yunus repeats.

- You say the Brennpunkt program is the cause of everything that has happened, and that you are no longer head of the Grameen Bank. Will you proceed to further actions related to the case?

- We have not decided. We weigh the pros and cons of doing it, says Muhammad Yunus.

Film on Microfinance in Norway

This film present the organisation Mikrofinans Norge - (Network Credit Norway - NCN) and features some of the users of the services offered by this membership association. NCN is targeting mainly self emplpoyed etrepreneurs in Norway with training, mentoring and access to microloans up to € 25 000 (NOK 200 000).

Films showing the truth about Grameen and Yunus - response to the Brennpunkt documentary "Cought in micro debt"

Please see the following links for videos that have been produced in response to the Brennpunkt documentary “Caught in Micro Debt.” originally shown by Norwegian TV on November 30th 2010

1. Response to false allegations in "Caught in Micro Debt" – Jobra: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JGBQnrC-cw
Filmmaker Gayle Ferraro takes a trip to Jobra, Bangladesh, to seek what really happened to Sophia Begum, the famous bamboo stool maker whom Muhammad Yunus writes about in his books. Tom Heinemann's documentary "Caught in Micro Debt" falsely alleges that he talked to her daughter, and that she died in poverty, but Gayle reveals that the woman he interviewed was not her daughter and that Sophia Begum is alive and prospering.

2. Hilary Village – Kartik Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsWwj8eqihY
Kartik - A villager in the documentary "Caught in Micro Credit" recounts his earlier negative story of Grameen Bank in his village to the journalists and tells of it's success. He was denied a loan at the time because of an injury and was angry.

3. Hilary Village – Jude Fernando Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI544LiUgTg
Jude Fernando - The questions regarding the visit by Hillary Clinton to Bangladesh and a particular village are explored to reveal that village was both in proximity to another location she needed to visit and it was an untouchable caste. Grameen Bank thought she would be interested to see how they they are doing.

4. Response to “Caught in Micro Debt” – Nerunnahar Begum: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcdRi2S2bxM
This video is a response to the dangerously inaccurate Norwegian public television documentary "Caught in Micro-debt". Nerunnahar Begum, one of the subjects of that film, is interviewed here and it is shown that she is not, in fact, the daughter of the first Grameen Bank borrower Sufiya Begum, as had been claimed. In addition, there is an interview with a woman who turns out to be Sufiya herself, alive and well, thereby disproving the claim made in "Caught in Micro-debt" that Sufiya died years ago in extreme poverty.

5. Response to false interest rate allegations in "Caught in Micro Debt" -- Alex Counts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2ndLC4EDQ4.
Alex Counts, President and CEO of Grameen Foundation, talks about his experience working with filmmaker Tom Heinemann, whose documentary, "Caught in Micro Debt," misrepresented Grameen Bank's interest rates.

6. Response to false interest rate allegations in “Caught in Micro Debt” – David Roodman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mdPS4rLb4M.
David Roodman, Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development, talks about his experience working with filmmaker Tom Heinemann, whose documentary, "Caught in Micro Debt," misrepresented Grameen Bank's interest rates.

7. Interview with Erik Solheim: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR05d9j5W6U
Response in relation to Norad's report on Grameen after the documentary "caught in micro debt" by Erik Solheim, Minister of the Environment and International Development in Norway. The full NORAD report may be found here: http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/ud/press/news/2010/report_grameen.html?id=62...

Here is a list of sites that are following the situation in Bangladesh:

1. For the most up-to-date information, please check the Grameen Bank (http://www.grameen.com/) website.

2. If you’re interested you can support Professor Yunus and the independence of Grameen Bank by joining online campaigns such as the Support Yunus (http://www.facebook.com/SupportYunus ) Facebook page

3. You can follow Grameen America (www.grameenamerica.org) on Facebook (www.facebook.com/pages/Grameen-America/108588249174634 ) and Twitter (http://www.Twitter.com/GrameenAmerica ) and continuing your support of Grameen and asking your friends to do the same.

4. To Catch A Dollar (http://www.tocatchadollar.com/ ) is a documentary on Professor Yunus and Grameen America which will be in select theaters on March 31st. You can follow To Catch A Dollar on Facebook (www.facebook.com/tocatchadollar ) and on Twitter (www.twitter.com/tocatchadollar ).

Professor Yunus remains Managing Director of Grameen Bank

Friends of Grameen denounces the new attempt of destabilization against Professor Yunus.

The announcement by the new Chairman is without enforceability.

Paris, 2nd March 2011

Today, the new Chairman of Grameen Bank, recently appointed by the Government, announced that Professor Yunus stepped down from his position as Managing Director, as this position had been declared illegal. Referring to a letter from the Central Bank, this request by the Chairman is legally beyond his
authority. After the unauthorized statements by the Chairman, Grameen Bank has officially announced that Professor Muhammad Yunus validly remains its Managing Director.

This new development appears as a renewed and immediate threat for Grameen Bank as an independent institution and a new step in the destabilization campaign pursued by the Government. According to the Ordinance that created Grameen Bank in 1983, the Government is appointing 3 members of the board, out of a total of 12. Today, the Bank is essentially owned by more than 8 million borrowers, who elect the other 9 board members among themselves. The Government owns the remaining fraction of the Bank's equity.

The Government-led actions have been increasingly legally groundless over the last few days, and Friends of Grameen will keep monitoring the situation closely and continue to advocate for a lawful and fair treatment of Grameen Bank and Professor Yunus, as their contribution to the world is unique and ultimately belongs to the poor of Bangladesh and beyond.

About Friends of Grameen

“Friends of Grameen” is a voluntary association established under the French law of 1901. The purpose of the association is the promotion and development of microcredit and social business, in particular the microcredit activities of Grameen Bank and its affiliates. The Honorary Committee is chaired by Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Executive Committee is chaired by Maria Nowak, President of ADIE, a pioneering French microfinance institution created in 1989.

Press contacts:

Vincent Dujardin : 00 33 1 41 86 76 48 / 00 33 6 14 11 38 67

Xavier Bossaert: 00 33 1 41 86 76 97 / 00 33 6 19 41 50 18

Emilie Rapley: 00 33 1 41 86 76 14 / 00 33 6 29 22 82 01

Intervju_Erik Solheim_ferdig.mov

Documentary on Microcredit being shown by Danmarks Radio 31. January at 22:00

In my opinion it is always good with open debate about microcredit as long as the correct information is presentet. The facts below are therefore presented in relation to a documentary that will be shown in DR1 tonight at 22:00. I assume that the film offered for broadcast in Denmark is an English-language version of a film originally shown on NRK Norway on November 30, 2010. The filmmaker, Tom Heinemann, has publicly written that he was making an English-language version that would be aired in Denmark and Sweden. I am here explaining three serious respects in which the film contains false and defamatory accusations against Grameen Bank and Professor Muhammad Yunus – accusations that need to be kept in mind in relation to this film unless these false accusations have been removed already:

NORAD Aid
One principal charge made in the film relates to financial dealings between Grameen Bank and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), a directorate under the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The charge concerns matters that arose more than a decade ago, that were promptly addressed by Grameen Bank, the relevant Norwegian authorities and the government of Bangladesh, and that were fully and finally resolved at the time. By selective use of a few documents from that time, the film suggests that very significant sums of aid money were diverted by Grameen Bank, in violation of the conditions on which they were provided, and used for improper commercial enrichment.

I assume that you are aware that, as a consequence of the film’s airing on November 30, 2010, Norway’s Minister of International Development commissioned an urgent and comprehensive review of all NORAD’s support for Grameen Bank. This report, published on December 7, examined the relevant earlier exchanges, and concluded that the issues raised at the time by the Norwegian Embassy in Dhaka had been satisfactorily explained and resolved. See the full report here: http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/ud/press/news/2010/report_grameen.html?id=627366

Interest Rates
Another central charge made in the film is that Grameen Bank charges excessive interest rates. Specifically, the film in its Norwegian version accuses Grameen Bank of charging its borrowers annual interest rates of between 30% to 200%. This was and is factually incorrect. As an expert on microfinance, Alex Counts was interviewed by Mr. Heinemann on film about this issue, as was David Roodman, Senior Fellow of the Center for Global Development. Both specifically told Mr. Heinemann that his figures were wrong, but he ignored the corrections at that time. Hopefully this is corrected in this version of the film. Film interviews with Alex Counts and David Roodman show how their statements to Mr. Heinemann were willfully misrepresented in the film – for more information, see http://www.youtube.com/microfinanceresponse

In response to the unfounded assertions about interest rates in the film, Grameen Bank invited an independent expert, Chuck Waterfield of MicroFinance Transparency, to examine their rates, providing full access for that purpose. The MicroFinance Transparency report, dated January 4, 2011, is available at: http://www.mftransparency.org/pages/category/resources/pricing-certifications/. It shows, in particular, that the highest effective interest rate charged for Grameen Bank’s “basic loan” (the most expensive) is 22.84%. Other loans for higher education and housing attract substantially lower interest rates, and all loan products score an unprecedented 100% on the Transparency Index.

The Jobra Interview
The film seeks to portray Grameen Bank and Professor Yunus in a damaging light by way of interviews with individuals in Bangladesh, claiming that Professor Yunus made promises to them that were not kept, or that they have suffered in other ways at the hands of Grameen Bank due to high interest rates. The alleged suffering due to high interest rates is, as stated above, false. The film presents no real evidence to substantiate the other claims, and Professor Yunus refutes any claims made concerning him. Grameen Bank also denies such claims.

This element of the film is based on filmed interviews with individuals in Bangladesh, who are identified in the film and accompanied by commentary purporting to explain and clarify what it being said in Bangla by the interviewees. From our enquiries to date, it is evident that at least some of these interviews are not as represented in the film. For example, Mr. Heinemann claims to have interviewed the daughter of Professor Yunus’s original borrower, and, in the voiceover, claims that the original borrower died in deep poverty. After Mr. Heinemann’s film was aired on NRK Norway, an independent filmmaker, Ms. Gayle Ferraro, travelled to the place of the interview and found the person he interviewed. As can be seen from her film http://www.youtube.com/user/microfinanceresponse#p/a/u/0/1JGBQnrC-cw it turns out that the person Mr. Heinemann interviewed was not in fact who he claimed. In addition, Ms. Ferraro found that the woman who was the actual borrower described in Mr. Heinemann’s film was alive and well, and confirmed the true story of how she had been helped by Professor Yunus. Ms. Ferraro’s film shows that this part of Mr. Heinemann’s film is false.

It is surely not Grameen Bank’s or Professor Yunus’s intention to stifle debate on microfinance – indeed, the Bank, Prof. Yunus and Grameen Foundation all welcome healthy, balanced debate on the issues – but deliberate and repeated false and defamatory statements and unfounded attacks with intent to inflict harm and damage do not further that debate: they distort it. They feed sensationalism and confusion, and they damage the progress that they and all responsible microfinance institutions have made in helping millions of the world’s poorest citizens lift themselves from poverty. Some of the wider ramifications of this discussion are not for this letter, but are expressed in a recent article by Professor Yunus in the New York Times, which can be found at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/15/opinion/15yunus.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=yunus&st=cse

You may not be aware that Grameen Bank is 95% owned by more than 8 million borrowers and members of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. About 4% is owned by the Government of Bangladesh. The borrowers and members of the Grameen bank are 97% women, who come from the poorest sectors of Bangladesh. To these people, Grameen Bank is a vital resource that enables them to improve the lives of themselves and their families. Attacks upon Grameen Bank directly harm the interests of these people.