HRH the Grand Duchess Attends Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation 10th Anniversary in Paris

Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg attended the 10th anniversary celebration of the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation (FGCA) in Paris.

Created in 2008 under the joint leadership of Crédit Agricole S.A. and Prof. Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and founder of Grameen Bank, FGCA is a foundation headquartered in Luxembourg. HRH the Grand Duchess joined the Board of Directors in the year of its creation.

The Grand Duchess has been UNESCO's Goodwill Ambassador since 1997, her main points of interest and action being the education of women and girls around the world and the promotion of micro-credits. As such, she has made many humanitarian visits, in the company of Professor Yunus, to whom she paid a warm tribute in her address to the many guests gathered in Salle Wagram.

Referring to the professor as her "source of inspiration [who] has marked all [her] action" in the field of microfinance, HRH pointed out that "the teacher taught me a lot of things and especially that all the poor are workers, all are intelligent, all are creative and they all want to get out and succeed ... if we give them a chance!" Quoting again her friend and mentor, the Grand Duchess reminded that microfinance "is not charity" but "a business that respects the one in which one invests, that puts it back". 

HRH the Grand Duchess once again emphasised the leading role of women in the process of social reconstruction, in general, and in the field of microfinance, in particular. She concluded with a call for the greater involvement of all players in the financial and banking world in the fight against poverty in the world.