Yunus Centre Press Release (16 June 2023)

Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus went to Lausanne, Switzerland, to meet with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach to discuss the future Olympics, bilateral issues, and collaborations in sports and social business. Several meetings with IOC senior management on progress in the upcoming Olympics on the social business front took place. Thomas Bach expressed his interest in following up with Professor Yunus in Dhaka on his way to Mumbai in October this year when the 104th IOC Session will take place there.

On June 11 Professor Yunus visited Turin where he engaged with an enthusiastic group of 200 youth leaders and students in a town hall meeting at Sermig. In the presence of the Deputy Mayor of Turin he discussed the initiative to launch the Social Business City of Turin. He sat with senior management of Lavazza Group and civil society leaders to discuss the roles of each section of society in building the Social Business City of Turin.

In the evening he addressed the opening of the 26th Festival Cinemambiente about the power of cinema to inspire imagination amongst the youth. "If you imagine a world you want, it will happen. If you don't imagine it will never happen. Cinema has the power to help people imagine and create the world of three zeros".

On June 13, Yunus went to Paris to meet with Philippe Brassac, the CEO of Credit Agricole, and the senior management of Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation to review the global programs of the Foundation and particularly the recent collaboration in Senegal, where 2,500 women entrepreneurs will be supported for 3 years. This will be based on the replication of the highly successful Nobin Equity Programme in Bangladesh.

An agreement was signed between IAE Nice (Université Côte d'Azur, IAE Ecole Universitaire de Management) and Yunus Centre, Dhaka, to establish a Yunus Social Business Centre (YSBC) at IAE Nice. This will be the 105th YSBC in 40 countries globally. This collaboration with IAE Nice will promote the concept and work of YSBCs across 30 top universities in France.

An MoU was signed by Professor Yunus on behalf of Yunus Sports Hub with Gabriela Ramos, Assistant Director-General of UNESCO, in charge of Sports, to promote social business in the sports world.

The agreement laid out a broad framework of activities, starting from creating a label for inclusive and sustainable sporting events, working together on youth empowerment through sports, and creating collaboration on programs for social business sports structures for underprivileged communities.

Yunus then met with Remy Rioux, the Chief Executive of Agence Francaise de Development (AFD), the French Development Agency, and discussed their joint project initiatives relating to sports and social business entrepreneurship. Yunus discussed new possible collaborations with AFD in the Virunga National Park of the Democratic Republic of Congo to protect this second-largest rainforest in the world through social business interventions.

On June 14, Yunus addressed Global Sports Week 2023, an annual event of the sports world of France, as the keynote speaker, where he talked about the potential of combining sports and social business and what sports should accomplish in the future. He had a series of discussions with the leaders of the sports community of France and European countries.

Caption for Photo 1: Professor Yunus receives the Olympic Laurel Certificate from the hand of IOC President Thomas Bach in Lausanne, Switzerland. The certificate and a trophy were bestowed upon Professor Yunus in 2021. Photo: IOC/Greg Martin

Caption for Photo 2: Professor Muhammad Yunus signs the Golden Book of the IOC at the Olympic House in Lausanne in the presence of the president of the IOC Thomas Bach. The Golden Book is signed by distinguished high level visitors of the Olympic House. Photo: IOC/Greg Martin Photo: IOC/Greg Martin

Caption for Photo 3: Professor Yunus posing with Elisabeth Walliser, General Director of IAE Nice after signing an agreement between IAE Nice and Yunus Centre to establish the 105th Yunus Social Business Centre (YSBC) at IAE Nice. Photo: Yunus Centre.

Caption for Photo 4: An MoU was signed by Professor Yunus on behalf of Yunus Sports Hub with Gabriela Ramos, Assistant Director-General of UNESCO, in charge of Sports, to promote social business in the sports world. Photo: Yunus Centre.

Caption for Photo 5: Professor Yunus engages with youth at Global Sports Week 2023 in France, discussing the future goals for sports and social business. Photo: Yunus Centre.

Caption for Photo 6: Professor Yunus in Paris with Philippe Brassac, the CEO of Credit Agricole, and the senior management of Grameen Credit Agricole Microfinance Foundation. Photo: Yunus Centre.

Caption for Photo 7: Professor Yunus addressed the opening of the 26th Festival Cinemambiente about the power of cinema to inspire imagination amongst the youth in a town hall meeting at Sermig, Turin, Italy. Photo: Yunus Centre.

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