2006 Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Professor Muhammad Yunus, Names Global Communicators as Worldwide Media Consultant

December 4, 2006 | 5:34 am

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Nobel Peace Prize winner Professor Muhammad Yunus, father of the global microcredit movement and founder and managing director of Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, has named Global Communicators, a Washington DC-based international communications firm, as his worldwide media relations adviser.

Yunus will receive the prestigious award at ceremonies in Oslo, Norway, December 10, 2006, followed by an internationally telecast concert in Oslo December 11. Global Communicators will provide media relations support to Yunus throughout his visit to Norway.

Jim Harff, chairman and CEO of Global Communicators, said his firm has been providing media advice and counsel to Yunus since 2004. "Around the world, we have supported Professor Yunus' dogged efforts to communicate the efficacy of microfinance in helping the poorest of the poor extricate themselves from the cycle of poverty that afflicts millions globally."

Global Communicators recently handled global media relations assignments during Yunus' visits to South Korea to receive the Seoul Peace Prize, attendance at the Grameen Trust's microcredit conference in Beijing, and participation in the UN Foundation board meeting in Tokyo.

"Our objective is to leverage Dr. Yunus' recognition by the Nobel Institute through extensive worldwide media coverage that will inform world leaders and the general public about the value of the microcredit movement in helping to solve basic human problems related to poverty through a simple process of providing small loans to the poor to develop micro-enterprises that help them educate their children, provide health care, and sustain an improved quality of life," Harff said.

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to Yunus and Grameen Bank of Bangladesh. Yunus, 66, established the bank in 1983, fueled by the belief that credit is a fundamental human right. Since its founding, the bank has made microcredit loans worth $5.72 billion to 6.61 million borrowers, 97 percent of whom are women, with a 99 percent loan recovery rate.

About Global Communicators:

Global Communicators is a Washington DC-based international communications firm with strategic partner offices in Los Angeles and St. Louis. The firm offers a broad range of public relations and marketing services including media relations, brand development, special events, tourism promotion, economic development, government affairs, foreign representation and crisis communications. For more information, visit http://www.globalcommunicators.com.