Stockholm : Following is the official English text of
the Norwegian Nobel Committee's citation in awarding the 2006Peace Prize, divided in two equal parts, to Mohammad Yunus and Grameen Bank on Friday:

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2006, divided into two equal parts, to Mohammad Yunus and Grameen Bank for their efforts to create economic and social development from below. Lasting peace cannot be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty. Microcredit is one such means. Development from below also serves to advance democracy and human rights.

Mohammad Yunus has shown himself to be a leader who has managed to translate visions into practical action for the
benefit of millions of people, not only in Bangladesh, but also
in many other countries. Loans to poor people without any
financial security had appeared to be an impossible idea. Frommodest beginnings three decades ago, Yunus has, first and foremost through Grameen Bank, developed microcredit into an ever more important instrument in the struggle against poverty. Grameen Bank has been a source of ideas and models for the many institutions in the field of micro-credit that have sprung up around the world.

Every single individual on earth has both the potential and
the right to live a decent life. Across cultures and
civilizations, Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that even the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own
development.

Microcredit has proved to be an important liberating force
in societies where women in particular have to struggle against repressive social and economic conditions. Economic growth and political democracy can not achieve their full potential unless the female half of humanity participates on an equal footing with the male.

Yunus's long-term vision is to eliminate poverty in the
world. That vision cannot be realised by means of microcredit
alone. But Mohammad Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that, in the continuing efforts to achieve it, micro-credit must play a major part.

A list of Nobel Peace Prize winners since 1975:

  • 2006: Muhammad Yunus, Bangladesh, and the Grameen Bank.
  • 2005: Mohamed ElBaradei, Egypt, and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
  • 2004: Wangari Maathai, Kenya.
  • 2003: Shirin Ebadi, Iran.
  • 2002: Jimmy Carter, United States.
  • 2001: U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
  • 2000: Kim Dae-jung, South Korea.
  • 1999: Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without
    Borders).
  • 1998: David Trimble and John Hume, Northern Ireland.
  • 1997: Jody Williams and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, United States.
  • 1996: Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo and Jose Ramos-Horta, East Timor.
  • 1995: Joseph Rotblat, Britain, and the Pugwash
    Conferences on Science and World Affairs.
  • 1994: Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat; Yitzhak Rabin
    and Shimon Peres, Israel.
  • 1993: Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk, South Africa.
  • 1992: Rigoberta Menchu, Guatemala.
  • 1991: Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar (also known as Burma).
  • 1990: Mikhail Gorbachev, Soviet Union.
  • 1989: The Dalai Lama, Tibet.
  • 1988: The U.N. Peacekeeping Forces.
  • 1987: Oscar Arias Sanchez, Costa Rica.
  • 1986: Elie Wiesel, United States.
  • 1985: International Physicians for the Prevention of
    Nuclear War, United States.
  • 1984: Desmond Mpilo Tutu, South Africa.
  • 1983: Lech Walesa, Poland.
  • 1982: Alva Myrdal, Sweden; Alfonso Garcia Robles,
    Mexico.
  • 1981: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR.
  • 1980: Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Argentina.
  • 1979: Mother Teresa, India.
  • 1978: Anwar Sadat, Egypt; Menachem Begin, Israel.
  • 1977: Amnesty International, Britain.
  • 1976: Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan, Northern Ireland.
  • 1975: Andrei Sakharov, Soviet Union.