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On Thursday, July 17 2014, the College & Graduate School of International Relations invited 2006 Nobel Peace Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus to hold a talk titled, “~Creating a World Without Poverty~”, at Soshikan, Kinugasa Campus.

Professor Yunus, an economist born in Bangladesh, founded Grameen Bank in 1983, which provides microcredit to the poor. By raising awareness of impoverished people in the agricultural sector and providing microloans to low-income self-employed people, particularly impoverished women, Prof. Yunus has contributed greatly to alleviating poverty in Bangladesh. In praise of these achievements, Prof. Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.

Professor Yunus talked about when he realized how far removed the situation at the time in Bangladesh was from existing economic theory and that the existing banking system was one only for the wealthy, where affluent people could borrow money but the impoverished, one-third of the world’s population, could not. He also discussed how he established Grameen Bank, as relief for the poor, that would provide microloans to impoverished people and women.

Prof. Yunus stated (paraphrased), “No matter how big a problem, it is important to start small and stay constant to solve it. First, start thinking of a solution to a problem that affects 3 or 5 people. If you can solve a 5-person problem, you can surely solve a 1,000,000-person problem. You should keep repeating small successes. Young people can’t throw their dreams away. If there’s a problem, there’s a solution. I hope everyone works on solving the problems around them.”

In the second part, Seimu Yamashita, representing the Ritsumeikan team that placed 1st in the Yunus & Youth Social Business Design Contest 2014 held on Tuesday, July 15, moderated a question and answer session between Prof. Yunus and students. Students asked back-to-back questions regarding solutions to poverty and discrimination issues deeply rooted in Africa and Asia. In response, Prof. Yunus emphasized the importance of first offering solutions on your own.