Grameen Family of Organisations encompasses dozens of sister ventures in Bangladesh and around the world.  Under the leadership of the Nobel Peace Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, the Grameen Family of Organisations renders holistic services to improve the quality of life of grassroots.  The borrowers of its Grameen Bank received home visits of the delegation and allowed them to sit in on their assembly to learn about ways of promoting rural community development and empowering women through microcredit.  The delegation also visited the Grameen Shakti, also under the Grameen Family of Organisations, to have an understanding of its solar energy system for off-grid rural households.  Taking the same opportunity, the delegation gained knowledge of the New Entrepreneur Programme which aims to assist the second generation of borrowers to start their own business.

As for the non-governmental organisation BRAC, it introduced the Social Innovation Lab and Microfinance Programme to the delegation.  The former incubates social innovation projects to tackle arising social challenges, while the latter aims at providing financial services that were inaccessible for the poor in mainstream financial institutions.  BRAC also lined up the delegation with its social enterprise Aarong which is a prominent fashion retailer in Bangladesh established in 1978 endeavouring to create humane job opportunities for rural crafters and small producers.  By opening the production hub, supplier's factory and retail outlet, the social compliance measures of Aarong was displayed.

This Bangladesh trip not only broadened the horizon of participants, but also enabled them to be inspired by the local social innovators.

For more details about the above study, please click here to visit the Facebook page of Yunus Social Business Centre@CUHK.