Grameen Bank awarded Grameen Bank Baudouin Prize to 240 self-reliant members and 40 outstanding staff members on Sunday as part of its founding anniversary programme and 20 years since its Nobel Prize win.
At ceremonies held at all zonal offices across the country, Zonal Managers presented each winner in their respective zones with a crest, a certificate of honour and a cash award, said a press release.
Awardees were selected on the basis of specific performance indicators, including new member enrolment, a 100 per cent loan recovery rate, loan expansion, deposit growth, centre house management, loan utilisation and implementation of the Sixteen Decisions.
Grameen Bank MD Sarder Akhter Hamed said, “The indomitable drive, unique skills and remarkable achievements of our colleagues and members at the grassroots level are enriching the institution’s progress. This special recognition will further enhance their efficiency, which will strengthen our institutional discipline and social foundation, and play a lasting role in poverty alleviation.”
Grameen Bank received King Baudouin International Development Prize in 1992 from Belgium’s King Baudouin Foundation. The prize was formally handed over to the bank’s representatives in Brussels in 1993. A permanent fund was established in 1994 with the prize money. Since 1995, income from the fund has been used to award Baudouin Prize annually to mark the bank’s founding anniversary, to one outstanding staff member from each zone and one self-reliant member from each area, the press release added.
