Paris: Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus and French Minister for Equality between Women and Men and for the Fight against Discriminations Aurore Berg© headlined a dynamic public dialogue on May 28 at the Cr©dit Agricole F©d©ration auditorium in Paris. The event was organized by the Grameen Credit Agricole Foundation (GCAF) and attracted 150 leaders from the financial inclusion and gender equality sectors.
According to United News of Bangladesh, the discussion was moderated by V©ronique Faujour, General Secretary of the Cr©dit Group. Minister Berg©, a prominent supporter of President Macron and a leading figure in combating discrimination and promoting female economic equality, commended the foundation’s impact. She highlighted that over 85% of its global loans are directed towards women, emphasizing the acute challenge of discrimination and inequality in France and worldwide. Berg© stressed the need for empowering youth, particularly women, to address these issues effectively.
Professor Yunus, during the dialogue, shared valuable insights from the Grameen Bank’s historical experience. He recounted lessons from the student-led July Uprising in Bangladesh, where both male and female students from various educational institutions played pivotal roles. Yunus emphasized the importance of grassroots financial autonomy in building resilient, just, and equal societies. He noted that the new generation of young women in Bangladesh is paving the way for change.
Yunus further predicted that young men and women, empowered with new technologies, will gain significant social and political power. He likened this potential to the power of Aladdin’s lamp, capable of bringing miraculous, rapid, and substantial change worldwide. Yunus projected that the younger generation would increasingly dominate society due to technological advancements, with this shift occurring more swiftly in Bangladesh, where 65% of the population is under the age of 35. He anticipated this trend to continue before eventually stabilizing.