Forty global leaders expressed their “deep concerns for the well-being” of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus in an open letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The letter said that it is “painful to see Prof Yunus, a man of impeccable integrity, and his life’s work unfairly attacked and repeatedly harassed and investigated by your government”.

The letter also appeared as a full-page ad in the Washington Post on Tuesday, March 7, 2023.

Here is the full text of the letter signed by 40 dignitaries: 

                                 An Open Letter to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh

                        About the Treatment of Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus

Honorable Prime Minister Hasina,

We write to you as friends of Bangladesh who admire the courage and ingenuity of the people of your country. We are public servants and businesspeople; civil society leaders and philanthropists. We are among the tens of millions of global citizens who have been inspired by the innovations that have been developed in Bangladesh and adopted around the world. It is out of this deep respect for your country that we write to urge you to take positive steps to support and recognize the great contributions of one of your most notable citizens, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus.

We have deep concerns for Professor Yunus’ well-being and his ability to contribute to humanitarian advancement in Bangladesh and around the world. As we are sure you are aware, Muhammad Yunus’ contributions to Bangladesh, especially to the very poor and the most vulnerable, and also to the world, are recognized and honored around the globe. For example:

-Prof. Yunus is one of seven people in history to have received the Nobel Peace Prize, the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal, a group that includes Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Theresa, and Elie Wiesel.

-He founded Grameen Bank in 1976 grew it to a world-renowned poverty-fighting institution of 9 million borrowers, 97 percent of them women, that has lifted millions out of poverty and been a model for other microcredit programs around the world.

-In the mid-1980s Grameen Bank began offering housing loans of $200-$500 that have led to the construction of sturdy rural homes for more than 750,000 families.

-Grameen Shakti, which Professor Yunus founded and chairs, has installed more than 1.8 million solar home systems and trained thousands of rural women to install and repair these systems.

-His farsighted investment of Grameen Telecom, which he founded, in GrameenPhone, has allowed for the proliferation of social innovation throughout Bangladesh, such as the establishment of Grameen Caledonian College of Nursing, the country’s largest private nursing college, four eye care hospitals that cater to the country’s poor, 150 primary health care clinics, and more.

-He established Grameen America in 2008 to provide microcredit to low-income people in the United States, mostly in amounts under $2,500. It is about to cross the milestone of $3 billion lent, and it has a 99% repayment rate.

Muhammad Yunus has not benefited financially from his involvement in Grameen Telecom or GrameenPhone. Rather, he has devoted himself to the poverty-fighting missions of the many organizations he has established and lives modestly in Dhaka. It is therefore painful to see Prof. Yunus, a man of impeccable integrity, and his life’s work unfairly attacked and repeatedly harassed and investigated by your government.

We believe one of the most important roles of government is to create an environment where traditional and social entrepreneurs can flourish.

We hope that Bangladesh will return to its role as a model for other developing nations of how a vibrant civil society can be nurtured to ensure sustainable progress. A good first step would be to recognize Professor Yunus’ achievements and allow him to focus his energy on doing more good for your country and for the world, rather than on defending himself.

We, and tens of millions of people around the world, hope that you will embrace this vision.
Sincerely,

Bono, Musician and Activist

Sir Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin Group

Lord Mark Malloch Brown, President, Open Society Foundations

Hillary Rodham Clinton, Former U.S. Secretary of State

Sam Daley-Harris, Founder, RESULTS and Civic Courage

Lt. Gen. (Rtd.) Romeo Dallaire, Founder, Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security

Marian Wright Edelman, Founder and President Emerita, Children’s Defense Fund

Vicente Fox, Former President of Mexico

Peter Gabriel, Musician

Ron Garan, Former NASA Astronaut

Kul Gautam, Former Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF and Assistant Secretary General of the UN

Pamela Gillies, Former Vice Chancellor and Professor Emerita, Glasgow Caledonian University

Peter C. Goldmark, Jr., Former CEO, Rockefeller Foundation and Int’l Herald Tribune

Jane Goodall, Primatologist and Activist

Al Gore, Former Vice President of the United States

John Hewko, CEO, Rotary International

Mo Ibrahim, Entrepreneur and Philanthropist

Baroness Helena Kennedy, KC Member of the House of Lords UK

Kerry Kennedy, President, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights

Ted Kennedy Jr.

Vinod Khosla, Venture Capitalist

Ban Ki-moon, 8th Secretary General of the UN

Annie Lennox, Singer, Songwriter, and Activist

Arthur Levitt, Former Chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission

Gene Ludwig, Founder and CEO, Springharbor Holdings & Former U.S. Comptroller of the Currency

Paul Maritz, Former CEO of VMWare

Michael H. Moskow, Former President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

Narayana Murthy, Founder, Infosys

Sir Robin Niblett, Former Chief Executive, Chatham House

Jan Piercy, Advisor, Southern Bancorporation, Former US Board Director, World Bank

Robert Post, Sterling Professor of Law, Yale Law School

Senator Donald Riegle, Former U.S. Senator from Michigan, Former Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Development

Mary Robinson, Former President of Ireland

Ellen Seidman

Yeardley Smith, Actress

Sharon Stone, Mother

Dr. David Suzuki, Prof. Emeritus, University of British Columbia

Peter Tufano, Former Dean, Saïd School of Business, Oxford University

Melanne Verveer, Former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues

Jimmy Wales, Founder, Wikipedia.