The Norwegian Foreign Affairs Ministry has issued a press release stating that an investigation conducted by it has revealed that Grameen Bank and Prof Yunus have neither diverted or misappropriated any donor funds given to it. The press release we received is given below.
Report on Norwegian assistance to Grameen Bank
Norad submitted its report today on Norwegian support to Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in the 1980s and 1990s.
Minister of the Environment and International Development Erik Solheim requested Norad to prepare the report after the Norwegian television series “Brennpunkt” raised the question of where the Norwegian aid money had gone.
Norad’s report shows that Grameen Bank transferred a total of NOK 608.5 million to its sister company Grameen Kalyan in 1996. Norway’s share of this amount is estimated to be approximately NOK 170 million. The Norwegian Embassy in Dhaka reacted immediately when it discovered the transfer in 1997. In the embassy’s view, the transfer was not in accordance with the agreement. The matter was raised with Grameen Bank. Following negotiations, it was agreed in May 1998 that NOK 170 million was to be transferred back from Grameen Kalyan to Grameen Bank.
“According to the report, there is no indication that Norwegian funds have been used for unintended purposes, or that Grameen Bank has engaged in corrupt practices or embezzled funds. The matter was concluded when the agreement concerning reimbursement of the funds was entered into in May 1998 under the government in office at the time,” said Mr Solheim.
The report: Review commissioned by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs of matters relating to Grameen Bank (pdf)
Enclosures to the report:
Enclosure 1: Summary of agreements Grameen Bank (pdf)
Enclosure 2: Agreements relating to Norwegian support for Grameen Bank (pdf)
Press contact: Christian Grotnes Halvorsen, mobile tel.: +47 48 153 748
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The way some Bangladeshi newspapers and journalists published the news – especially their news headlines – is very unfortunate. Professor Yunus is the only Nobel laureate of Bangladesh and is highly regarded for his work and wisdom both in country and abroad. Perhaps we have seen Bangladeshi journalism, which has so long boasted of its positive role in the establishment of democracy in the country, in one of its worsts.
Heinemann’s documentary was aired on 30 November in Norwegian TV and it was in Norwegian language, which is not familiar to Bangladeshi journalists. The quickness with which the news was spread through the Bangladesh press naturally raises doubt whether a ‘group’ of journalists were already ready to give the news a quick and good ‘publicity’. A false news to undermine Yunus’s image (untrue comments from the Indian Prime Minister) goes well with such doubt. Since Norway government’s clean chit to Yunus and Yunus’s press briefings on 12 December, most newspapers have stopped writing any more against Yunus and the NORAD fund. But a few newspapers have continued maligning Yunus’s image and are still going on publishing biased news against Yunus.
So it seems the whole thing – including Heinemann’s film – is a conspiracy that was planned long before the broadcast of Heinemann’s film.