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      <title>Grameen Foundation - Fighting poverty with microfinance</title>
      <link>http://www.grameenfoundation.org</link>
      <description>Grameen Foundation news and announcements</description>
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	      <image><link>http://www.grameenfoundation.org</link><url>http://www.grameenfoundation.org/images-builtin/logo-print.gif</url><title>Grameen Foundation</title></image><atom10:link xmlns:atom10="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" rel="self" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Grameen" type="application/rss+xml" /><feedburner:browserFriendly>This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site.</feedburner:browserFriendly><atom10:link xmlns:atom10="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" rel="hub" href="http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com" /><item>
	         <title>Vikram Gandhi</title>
	         <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Grameen/~3/MEDqtLGQ5HA/~story=402</link>
	         <description>&lt;p&gt;Credit Suisse's ResponsAbility Global Microfinance Fund has gained 27.6% since inception. Vikram Gandhi, MD &amp;amp; head of global financial institutions at Credit Suisse, and a member of the Grameen Foundation Board of Directors, sheds light on the market for microfinance, with CNBC's Sri Jegarajah, highlighting Grameen Foundation and Grameen Capital India as models of success. &lt;a href="http://www.grameenfoundation.org/resource_center/video_room/responsability/"&gt;See the video.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;CENTER&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;A HREF='http://www.grameenfoundation.org'&gt;Support Grameen Foundation -- Fighting poverty with microfinance&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/CENTER&gt;&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=MEDqtLGQ5HA:_UZJOFTmIes:yIl2AUoC8zA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=MEDqtLGQ5HA:_UZJOFTmIes:dnMXMwOfBR0"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=MEDqtLGQ5HA:_UZJOFTmIes:7Q72WNTAKBA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Grameen/~4/MEDqtLGQ5HA" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description>
	         <pubDate>Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
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	         <title>GF, Google and MTN Uganda Launch New Mobile Services for Uganda's Poor</title>
	         <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Grameen/~3/RCltl2F7mhA/~story=399</link>
	         <description>&lt;p&gt;Grameen Foundation today announced the launch of a suite of mobile phone applications developed with Google and MTN Uganda (MTN) that deliver services and information that were previously unavailable to Ugandas poor and disadvantaged communities.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPaMe0Nj6zM" target="_blank"&gt;See AppLab in Action&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This launch makes available the first suite of applications resulting from an endeavor initiated by Grameen Foundation 18 months ago called the &lt;a href="http://www.applab.org/" target="_blank"&gt;Application Laboratory (AppLab)&lt;/a&gt;. The five mobile phone applications provide real-time health and agricultural information and a virtual marketplace for buying and selling goods and services. This field-based program in Uganda is based on an innovative partnership that strategically combines the resources and experience of Grameen Foundation, Google, and MTN. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;The suite of five mobile services, provided using Google SMS Search technology and the MTN network, includes Farmers Friend, a searchable database with both agricultural advice and targeted weather forecasts; Health Tips which provides sexual and reproductive health information, paired with Clinic Finder, which helps locate nearby health clinics and their services; and Google Trader, which matches buyers and sellers of agricultural produce and commodities as well as other products. The services are SMS-based and designed to work with basic mobile phones to reach the broadest possible audience. Users can access the services quickly and privately at the time of their choosing and search relevant content on-demand, like someone with access to the Internet. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.applab.org/" target="_blank"&gt;AppLab Uganda&lt;/a&gt;, which is located in Kampala and directed by Grameen Foundations Technology Center, focuses on creating opportunities for poor people to share and access essential information through innovative uses of mobile phones which are in the hands of over four billion people around the world. The new services in Uganda can be accessed by existing Village Phone Operators (VPOs) who extend service to people without mobile phones as well as by people who have their own phones. VPOs and other trusted intermediaries serve as a bridge between communities who lack access to essential information and the sources that can provide it. Building on the pioneering work of Grameen Telecom in Bangladesh, Grameen Foundation and MTN Uganda launched Village Phone in Uganda in 2004 to expand telecommunications access to poor people. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.applab.org/" target="_blank"&gt;AppLab&lt;/a&gt; is a great example of innovation from and for the base of the pyramid, bringing relevant, actionable information to communities where access to the Internet is unavailable, said Alex Counts, president of Grameen Foundation. Through an approach including sector research, field-based rapid prototyping, extensive interaction with target users, and carefully structured field pilots, we have been able to gain deep insights from the people who benefit directly from using these applications. We are excited to take the next big step  going from an innovative product development approach to scaling proven and sustainable applications across Uganda for the benefit of the poor and poorest. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;The information in the applications was developed in collaboration with key local partners. The Busoga Rural Open Source Development Initiative (BRODSI) provides locally-relevant and actionable agricultural information created and tested by small-holder farmers and designed to meet their needs. For the health application, AppLab works with Marie Stopes Uganda, the local affiliate of a leading service provider for sexual and reproductive health, and Straight Talk Foundation, a Ugandan NGO which specializes in health communication. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Using the Google Trader application, local buyers and sellers, such as small-holder farmers, are able to broaden their trading networks and reduce their transaction costs. AppLab worked with the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture, TechnoServe and SNV Netherlands Development Organisation to hone the concept with banana farmers and traders in southwestern Uganda. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;These sustainable and scalable models put critical information and knowledge directly into the hands of poor people who have access to mobile devices, in an effort to further alleviate poverty, said Joseph Mucheru, Googles lead for Sub-Saharan Africa. This work is significant both for individuals and for the broader regional economy. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;These services represent the first of what will be many initiatives reaching the segment of our market that has been underserved for a long time, said Noel Meier, CEO, MTN Uganda. We are hoping to reach people in rural and disadvantaged communities while we build up a new line of business for the company. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;With the nationwide launch, Innovations for Poverty Action, with the support of Google.org and AppLab, will also conduct a social assessment to determine the effectiveness of the Health Tips service in changing the knowledge, attitudes and behavior of users. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Looking ahead, the Grameen Foundation &lt;a href="http://www.applab.org/" target="_blank"&gt;Application Laboratory&lt;/a&gt; will continue to develop applications and related services tailored to the needs of poor communities. It will work on a project basis with technology partners such as Google, mobile operators such as MTN, NGOs, foundations and government entities to develop new applications and innovative services for the poor in Uganda and beyond  working to transform lives through innovation in information access. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;About Grameen Foundation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Grameen Foundation, a global nonprofit organization, helps the worlds poorest people access financial services and technology solutions by providing financing, technology support and management strategies to the local organizations that serve them. It also spearheads technology initiatives that create new microbusiness opportunities for the poor, provide telecommunications access for the world's rural poor, and improve their access to health and agriculture information and other services. Founded in 1997, Grameen Foundation has offices in Washington, D.C. and Seattle, Washington. Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank and the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, is a founding member of its board of directors and served on the board for 12 years Since April 2009, he has served as Grameen Foundations first Director emeritus. For more information, please visit &lt;a href="http://www.grameenfoundation.org/" target="_blank"&gt;www.grameenfoundation.org&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;About Google&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;Google's innovative search technologies serve the company's mission of &amp;quot;organising the world's information and making it universally accessible and useful, and connect millions of people around the world every day with the information they need. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google is now a top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users through free online services. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa. For more information, please visit &lt;a href="http://www.google.com/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.google.com&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;About The MTN Group&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a multinational telecommunications group, operating in 21 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code: &amp;quot;MTN&amp;quot;. As at 31 December 2008, MTN recorded 90,7 million subscribers across its operations in Afghanistan, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cote dIvoire, Cyprus, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Republic, Iran, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville), Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia. The MTN Group is a global sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa and has exclusive mobile content rights for Africa and the Middle East. Visit &lt;a href="http://www.mtn.com/" target="_blank"&gt;www.mtn.com&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://www.mtnfootball.com/" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.mtnfootball.com/&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Other Presskit Items&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.grameenfoundation.org/docs/Grameen_Foundation_overview.pdf" target="_blank"&gt;Grameen Foundation overview&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.grameenfoundation.org/docs/Grameen_Tech_Center_overview.pdf" target="_blank"&gt;Grameen Technology Center overview&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.grameenfoundation.org/docs/AppLab_overview.pdf" target="_blank"&gt;Grameen Foundation AppLab overview&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.grameenfoundation.org/docs/MTN_Uganda_Profile.pdf" target="_blank"&gt;MTN Uganda overview&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;CENTER&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;A HREF='http://www.grameenfoundation.org'&gt;Support Grameen Foundation -- Fighting poverty with microfinance&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/CENTER&gt;&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=RCltl2F7mhA:H8K6RYpe5Bk:yIl2AUoC8zA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=RCltl2F7mhA:H8K6RYpe5Bk:dnMXMwOfBR0"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=RCltl2F7mhA:H8K6RYpe5Bk:7Q72WNTAKBA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Grameen/~4/RCltl2F7mhA" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description>
	         <pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
	         <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.grameenfoundation.org/resource_center/news/~story=399</guid>
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	         <title>GF's AppLab Featured in Guardian</title>
	         <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Grameen/~3/ZE4l5CqtSog/~story=400</link>
	         <description>&lt;p&gt;GF, in collaboration with Google and MTN Uganda, spent several months of testing and developing new applications specifically targeted for poor people in Uganda. The &lt;a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jun/29/google-launches-applab-in-uganda" target="_blank"&gt;Guardian&lt;/a&gt; discusses the new services which were launched today in Uganda.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;CENTER&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;A HREF='http://www.grameenfoundation.org'&gt;Support Grameen Foundation -- Fighting poverty with microfinance&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/CENTER&gt;&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=ZE4l5CqtSog:pb3nQxHkkLo:yIl2AUoC8zA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=ZE4l5CqtSog:pb3nQxHkkLo:dnMXMwOfBR0"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=ZE4l5CqtSog:pb3nQxHkkLo:7Q72WNTAKBA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Grameen/~4/ZE4l5CqtSog" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description>
	         <pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
	         <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.grameenfoundation.org/resource_center/news/~story=400</guid>
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	         <title>GF's AppLab Featured in Seattle Times</title>
	         <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Grameen/~3/J33KIpgHxOA/~story=401</link>
	         <description>&lt;p&gt;In this piece, the &lt;a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/thebusinessofgiving/2009397198_grameen_foundation_and_google.html" target="_blank"&gt;Seattle Times&lt;/a&gt; examines new mobile applications that were launched in Uganda earlier today.  Developed in collaboration with Google and MTN Ugada, the apps provide much-needed services to Uganda's poor and disadvantaged communities.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;CENTER&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;A HREF='http://www.grameenfoundation.org'&gt;Support Grameen Foundation -- Fighting poverty with microfinance&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/CENTER&gt;&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=J33KIpgHxOA:6U5bYCo_41g:yIl2AUoC8zA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=J33KIpgHxOA:6U5bYCo_41g:dnMXMwOfBR0"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=J33KIpgHxOA:6U5bYCo_41g:7Q72WNTAKBA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Grameen/~4/J33KIpgHxOA" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description>
	         <pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
	         <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.grameenfoundation.org/resource_center/news/~story=401</guid>
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	         <title>GF Technology Center Featured in InfoWorld</title>
	         <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Grameen/~3/s38TCik1lZk/~story=398</link>
	         <description>&lt;p&gt;Since 2001, the Grameen Technology Center has been developing services to provide telecommunications access and information to poor people and improve microfinance banking operations. In this interview in &lt;a href="http://www.infoworld.com/t/other-mobile-devices/seattle-center-develops-tech-poor-people-008" target="_blank"&gt;InfoWorld&lt;/a&gt;, Peter Bladin, GF's executive vice president for programs and regions and the founding director of the technology center, discusses GF's efforts to make technology benefit the poor.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;CENTER&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;A HREF='http://www.grameenfoundation.org'&gt;Support Grameen Foundation -- Fighting poverty with microfinance&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/CENTER&gt;&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=s38TCik1lZk:W4lEaufxXQY:yIl2AUoC8zA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=s38TCik1lZk:W4lEaufxXQY:dnMXMwOfBR0"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=s38TCik1lZk:W4lEaufxXQY:7Q72WNTAKBA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Grameen/~4/s38TCik1lZk" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description>
	         <pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
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	         <title>Alex Counts reports on the Microcredit Summit Campaign in Colombia</title>
	         <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Grameen/~3/rRRNpuG4FhY/~story=397</link>
	         <description>Microfinance in Latin America and the Caribbean has always felt like a paradox inside of a riddle, at least to me. It is clearly a global trend-setter, despite low outreach on a region-wide basis. It is home to some of the most articulate advocates of, and skeptics of, both the commercialization agenda and the holistic (credit plus) approach. &lt;a href="http://eg.qedgroupllc.net/content/guest-blog-summit-reflections-grameen-foundation-president-alex-counts"&gt;Read the full blog post.&lt;/a&gt; &lt;CENTER&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;A HREF='http://www.grameenfoundation.org'&gt;Support Grameen Foundation -- Fighting poverty with microfinance&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/CENTER&gt;&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=rRRNpuG4FhY:MvR2PpXgEqU:yIl2AUoC8zA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=rRRNpuG4FhY:MvR2PpXgEqU:dnMXMwOfBR0"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=rRRNpuG4FhY:MvR2PpXgEqU:7Q72WNTAKBA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Grameen/~4/rRRNpuG4FhY" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description>
	         <pubDate>Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
	         <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.grameenfoundation.org/resource_center/news/~story=397</guid>
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	         <title>GFs Mifos Wins Sun Microsystems 2009 Dukes Choice Award</title>
	         <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Grameen/~3/inVtp9WA6Fk/~story=396</link>
	         <description>&lt;p&gt;Mifos, Grameen Foundations open source management information system for microfinance institutions, has won the 2009 Dukes Choice Award for Best Java Technology for the Open Source Community. This is the first Dukes Choice Award for Grameen Foundation and the first-ever for a microfinance-focused technology initiative.  &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;The Duke's Choice Awards program recognizes the year's most influential Java technology-based applications submitted by developers and companies from around the world. The winners are chosen by Vice President and Sun Fellow James Gosling, along with a panel of Java technology experts at Sun. Click &lt;a href="http://www.sun.com/aboutsun/pr/2009-06/sunflash.20090601.3.xml" target="_blank"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for the release issued by Sun Microsystems.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mifos senior software developer Van Mittal-Henkle and Mifos contributor Sam Birney received the award from James Gosling on June 5 at the JavaOne 2009 Conference in San Francisco and also give a brief demonstration during Goslings keynote session. Click &lt;a href="http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid22207469001?bclid=24589760001&amp;amp;bctid=25471471001" target="_blank"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; to watch. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In addition, Sam Birney was interviewed on June 4 on JavaOne Radio. Click &lt;a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/JavaOne/2009/06/04/Sun-at-Java-One-Live-Jun-4-2009-200PM" target="_blank"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; to listen.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;CENTER&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;A HREF='http://www.grameenfoundation.org'&gt;Support Grameen Foundation -- Fighting poverty with microfinance&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/CENTER&gt;&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=inVtp9WA6Fk:BGsUijucHWg:yIl2AUoC8zA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=inVtp9WA6Fk:BGsUijucHWg:dnMXMwOfBR0"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=inVtp9WA6Fk:BGsUijucHWg:7Q72WNTAKBA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Grameen/~4/inVtp9WA6Fk" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description>
	         <pubDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
	         <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.grameenfoundation.org/resource_center/news/~story=396</guid>
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	         <title>GF and Yeardley Smith Team up to Fight Poverty</title>
	         <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Grameen/~3/5Zd3Pn8o--I/~story=394</link>
	         <description>&lt;p&gt;Yeardley Smith has recently returned from a trip to Haiti to visit GF partner Fonkoze and learn first hand about the experiences of poor women whose lives have been transformed by microfinance. Read about her experience on our &lt;a href="http://grameenfoundation.wordpress.com/" target="_blank"&gt;Creating a World without Poverty blog&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;input id="gwProxy" type="hidden" /&gt;&lt;!--Session data--&gt;&lt;/input /&gt;&lt;input id="jsProxy" onclick="jsCall();" type="hidden" /&gt;
  &lt;div id="refHTML"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;CENTER&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;A HREF='http://www.grameenfoundation.org'&gt;Support Grameen Foundation -- Fighting poverty with microfinance&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/CENTER&gt;&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=5Zd3Pn8o--I:9S0PZhkYShA:yIl2AUoC8zA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=5Zd3Pn8o--I:9S0PZhkYShA:dnMXMwOfBR0"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=5Zd3Pn8o--I:9S0PZhkYShA:7Q72WNTAKBA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Grameen/~4/5Zd3Pn8o--I" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description>
	         <pubDate>Tue, 26 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
	         <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.grameenfoundation.org/resource_center/news/~story=394</guid>
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	         <title>GF Releases Case Study on Edyficar of Peru</title>
	         <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Grameen/~3/xqo62HPiuC8/~story=395</link>
	         <description>&lt;p&gt;Rapid growth and growing interest from commercial and socially responsible investors have created many new financing opportunities and challenges for microfinance institutions (MFIs). However, while a broad range of legal structures and financing sources allow MFIs greater growth potential and funding diversification, they also make decisions about capital structure (strategic financing organizations make to achieve their goals) more complex.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;To explore this is greater depth, Grameen Foundation has written about the experience of Financiera Edyficar (Edyficar) of Peru which has undergone two transformations over the last decade in one of the most competitive microfinance markets.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Click &lt;a href="http://www.grameenfoundation.org/pubdownload/~pubid=64" target="_blank"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; for the full report.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;CENTER&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;A HREF='http://www.grameenfoundation.org'&gt;Support Grameen Foundation -- Fighting poverty with microfinance&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/CENTER&gt;&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=xqo62HPiuC8:P__3cvgAFws:yIl2AUoC8zA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=xqo62HPiuC8:P__3cvgAFws:dnMXMwOfBR0"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=xqo62HPiuC8:P__3cvgAFws:7Q72WNTAKBA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Grameen/~4/xqo62HPiuC8" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description>
	         <pubDate>Fri, 22 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
	         <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.grameenfoundation.org/resource_center/news/~story=395</guid>
	      <feedburner:origLink>http://www.grameenfoundation.org/resource_center/news/~story=395</feedburner:origLink></item>
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	         <title>GF Featured in PC World</title>
	         <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Grameen/~3/PAvygUO84Ko/~story=393</link>
	         <description>&lt;p&gt;Peter Bladin, GF's executive vice president for programs and regions, recently joined other nonprofit leaders at NetHope to discuss how technology is being used to tackle pressing issues. In this &lt;a href="http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/165336/nonprofits_sometimes_on_cutting_edge_of_technology.html" target="_blank"&gt;PC Magazine&lt;/a&gt; article, he discusses how Mifos is helping microfinance institutions manage their high volume of transactions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;CENTER&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;A HREF='http://www.grameenfoundation.org'&gt;Support Grameen Foundation -- Fighting poverty with microfinance&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/CENTER&gt;&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=PAvygUO84Ko:-Ho04wqPXBQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=PAvygUO84Ko:-Ho04wqPXBQ:dnMXMwOfBR0"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=PAvygUO84Ko:-Ho04wqPXBQ:7Q72WNTAKBA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Grameen/~4/PAvygUO84Ko" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description>
	         <pubDate>Thu, 21 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
	         <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.grameenfoundation.org/resource_center/news/~story=393</guid>
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	         <title>GF President Speaks at Wharton School of Business</title>
	         <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Grameen/~3/XaT_dUYOTVI/~story=392</link>
	         <description>GF CEO Alex Counts spoke recently at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business as part of the &lt;a href="http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2233" target="_blank"&gt;Colemen Speaker Lecture Series&lt;/a&gt;. Recalling his experiences in meeting and working with poor women and men around the world, Counts told students that many people &amp;quot;underestimate the abilities of the poor and what is learned in survival mode.&amp;quot; &lt;CENTER&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;A HREF='http://www.grameenfoundation.org'&gt;Support Grameen Foundation -- Fighting poverty with microfinance&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/CENTER&gt;&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=XaT_dUYOTVI:eUB4ZyQs7Zc:yIl2AUoC8zA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=XaT_dUYOTVI:eUB4ZyQs7Zc:dnMXMwOfBR0"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=XaT_dUYOTVI:eUB4ZyQs7Zc:7Q72WNTAKBA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Grameen/~4/XaT_dUYOTVI" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description>
	         <pubDate>Wed, 20 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
	         <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.grameenfoundation.org/resource_center/news/~story=392</guid>
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	         <title>Enda Inter-Arabe Goes Live on Mifos</title>
	         <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Grameen/~3/gc8MF-s-LMI/~story=391</link>
	         <description>&lt;p&gt;Grameen-Jameel Pan-Arab Microfinance Limited and Grameen Foundation today announced the first Arab microfinance institution (MFI) to go live on the &lt;a href="http://www.mifos.org/" target="_blank"&gt;Mifos&lt;/a&gt; open source Management Information System (MIS) platform: Enda inter-arabe (enda) in Tunisia. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;One of the Arab Regions pioneering MFIs, enda selected Mifos, a highly flexible, costeffective technology platform specifically designed for microfinance, to help drive and sustain its outreach, innovation and growth. Enda expects its investment in Mifos, the open source initiative developed by Grameen Foundation and launched in the Arab World by Grameen-Jameel, will assist it in managing its high growth from the current 100,000-plus poor clients across Tunisia to its target of 300,000 by the end of 2012. The announcement was made at the 2009 Sanabel Microfinance Conference in Beirut, Lebanon, the largest gathering of microfinance practitioners and leading stakeholders in the Middle East and North Africa.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Founded in Tunisia in 1990, enda began micro-credit in 1995 and has served as a leader for the sector, providing broader financial inclusion for Tunisian micro-entrepreneurs through innovative high-quality services. In December 2008, it was ranked 18th in the 2008 Mix Global 100 list of the top 100 best performing MFIs globally and has aggressive plans to reach 300,000 clients, with a loan portfolio totaling more than US$160 million by the end of 2012. To support this projected growth and further its position as the leading service innovator for the region, it needed a more flexible and scalable technology solution. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Ms. Essma Ben Hamida, endas executive director, said, We partnered with GrameenJameel to invest in the Mifos open source MIS platform because there is more to Mifos than a loan tracking system. It is a collaborative initiative that can greatly enhance MFIs ability to exchange experiences and knowledge, adopt new technology components from around the world and have the freedom to engage their own resources to support and extend their technology solutions.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Endas successful technology implementation is an example of how technology can stimulate the growth of microfinance providers in the Arab World, said Zaher Al Munajjed, chairman of Grameen-Jameel, a joint venture between Grameen Foundation and Bab Rizq Jameel Limited, that provides catalytic financial and non-financial services to microfinance institutions and to the sector as a whole to extend the sectors ability to impact the poor in the Arab World. Enda is an innovator and benchmark for other MFIs, and Grameen-Jameel is committed to working with enda and the Mifos community to enable neighboring MFIs to share in endas experiences and product extensions to adopt and help collectively build a standard technology solution for the Arab region. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;A web-based MIS, Mifos supports loan and savings portfolio management, centralised operational reporting, social performance measurement, and can be integrated with other technology solutions. It was launched as a community-driven platform in November 2006 by Grameen Foundation to address the entire industrys need for cost-effective flexible technology that scales and evolves with the rapid growth of microfinance. Grameen Foundation is harnessing the innovation and collaboration of open source to deliver a comprehensive solution and approach to technology for microfinance, and we are thrilled to be working with Grameen-Jameel to bring this solution to the Arab World, said George Conard, executive director of Mifos. Endas investment is already paying off  during the rollout of Mifos, its growth rate continued uninterrupted. Endas holistic approach to technology implementation set the right foundation for growth.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Led by Grameen-Jameel, enda used professional services from Grameen Foundation and ThoughtWorks, a global IT consultancy, to tailor Mifos to fit its unique business requirements, supporting its teller-style model of lending and localisation into French. Grameen Foundation worked directly with endas staff to craft a training, rollout and user adoption strategy that successfully aligned the Mifos technology with endas business processes. An aggressive execution plan allowed enda to bring on five to seven branches in a first testing phase and then successfully roll out Mifos across all 52 branches with no interference to daily operations. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Enda will continue to work with the community to extend the Mifos platform, driving growth and social impact across the region. Visit &lt;a href="http://www.mifos.org/" target="_blank"&gt;www.mifos.org&lt;/a&gt; to learn more, download the product, and become a part of the Mifos community. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;About Grameen-Jameel Pan-Arab Microfinance Limited&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;Grameen-Jameel is a Social Business established in 2007 as a joint venture between Grameen Foundation and Bab Rizq Jameel Limited, a subsidiary of Abdul Latif Jameel Group. The company alleviates poverty in the Arab World by forming strategic partnerships with microfinance institutions and providing technical and financing support through its guarantee program. To date, Grameen-Jameel has facilitated local currency financing of US$44 million backed by US$20 million in guarantees to its partners. Grameen-Jameel has reached more than 350,000 new microfinance clients through its partners in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Yemen.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;About Grameen Foundation&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;Grameen Foundation, a global nonprofit organisation, helps the worlds poorest people access financial services and technology solutions by providing financing, technology support and management strategies to the local organisations that serve them. Founded in 1997, with offices in Washington, D.C. and Seattle, Washington, Grameen Foundation has earned Charity Navigators four-star rating and the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance seal for its efficiency and fiscal management. Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank and the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, is a founding member of its board of directors. For more information, please visit &lt;a href="http://www.grameenfoundation.org/"&gt;www.grameenfoundation.org&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;CENTER&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;A HREF='http://www.grameenfoundation.org'&gt;Support Grameen Foundation -- Fighting poverty with microfinance&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/CENTER&gt;&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=gc8MF-s-LMI:hOxUcAKX1dk:yIl2AUoC8zA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=gc8MF-s-LMI:hOxUcAKX1dk:dnMXMwOfBR0"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=gc8MF-s-LMI:hOxUcAKX1dk:7Q72WNTAKBA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Grameen/~4/gc8MF-s-LMI" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description>
	         <pubDate>Tue, 12 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
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	         <title>GF Appoints New Executives</title>
	         <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Grameen/~3/GHhkTBYfGEE/~story=390</link>
	         <description>&lt;p&gt;Grameen Foundation has announced the appointments of Peter Bladin as executive vice president for programs and regions, Jennifer Meehan as regional CEO for Asia and Camilla Nestor as vice president for microfinance. These newly created positions will support Grameen Foundations ambitious new plan to foster and drive innovative approaches to fighting poverty across the microfinance and international development sectors. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;The foundation is expanding its poverty alleviation efforts to work with microfinance institutions as well as other poverty-focused organizations. In addition, its technology programs will encompass initiatives that support microfinance activities as well as broader international development needs. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;This an exciting opportunity for us to build on our successful microfinance and technology programs and help advance the large scale change that is needed to successfully fight poverty and one day end it for all time, said Alex Counts, president of Grameen Foundation. Peter, Jennifer and Camilla have played integral roles in building Grameen Foundation and their insight and experience make them especially suited to provide leadership to our organization and movement in this new era. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;This new direction brings an expanded role for Bladin who has led the Grameen Technology Center since its inception in 2001. He will now oversee microfinance and technology activities, as well as the new regional operations in the Americas, Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Meehan, who is based in Hong Kong, has lived in Asia for the past 13 years and has extensive experience working with poverty-focused MFIs throughout the region. She first joined Grameen Foundation in 2005 as the founding director of the Capital Markets Group, and has also served as the director of the Strategic Planning Unit. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Nestor was previously director of Grameen Foundations Capital Management and Advisory Center. She joined the foundation in 2005 to manage its Growth Guarantees Program, one of its most successful initiatives which, to date, has generated more than $144 million in local currency funding for microfinance institutions. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;About Grameen Foundation&lt;br /&gt;Grameen Foundation, a global nonprofit organization, helps the worlds poorest people access financial services and technology solutions by providing financing, technology support and management strategies to the local organizations that serve them. Founded in 1997, with offices in Washington, D.C. and Seattle, Washington, Grameen Foundation has earned Charity Navigators four-star rating and the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance seal for its efficiency and fiscal management. Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank and the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, is a founding member of its board of directors. For more information, please visit www.grameenfoundation.org.&lt;br /&gt;###&lt;/p&gt;&lt;CENTER&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;A HREF='http://www.grameenfoundation.org'&gt;Support Grameen Foundation -- Fighting poverty with microfinance&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/CENTER&gt;&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=GHhkTBYfGEE:3gWVlmDFPKg:yIl2AUoC8zA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=GHhkTBYfGEE:3gWVlmDFPKg:dnMXMwOfBR0"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=GHhkTBYfGEE:3gWVlmDFPKg:7Q72WNTAKBA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Grameen/~4/GHhkTBYfGEE" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description>
	         <pubDate>Fri, 08 May 2009 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
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	         <title>GF Honors Marshall Saunders with Humanitarian Award</title>
	         <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Grameen/~3/cTNDH6PegaY/~story=389</link>
	         <description>&lt;p&gt;Grameen Foundation, a global microfinance and technology organization, has announced Marshall Saunders as its 2009 Humanitarian Award recipient. Saunders, a philanthropist and microfinance practitioner, is being recognized for his two decades of advocacy and support for global microfinance initiatives, particularly in Mexico, Honduras, and India. He was honored at a ceremony in San Diego on April 24.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;After reading about microfinance in 1991, Saunders visited Tijuana, Mexico, where he met poor women who inspired him with their resilience, optimism and business savvy in the face of grinding poverty. That encounter with microfinance clients so close to his home in San Diego sparked his passion and commitment to fighting global poverty. He was an early supporter of microfinance institutions CASHPOR and Grama Vidiyal in India and FINCA Village Banks in eight Latin American countries. He has also been a tireless advocate for RESULTS San Diego where he led efforts to raise awareness and support for fighting poverty and hunger. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Saunders was also one of Grameen Foundations earliest allies when it was launched in 1997. Marshall has spent the last two decades excelling in four rolesadvocate, practitioner, philanthropist and fund-raiserthat were central to building the microfinance movement, said Alex Counts, president of Grameen Foundation. His modest approach and tendency to shine the light on others have been hallmarks of his work, and his legacy will be one of selfless contribution and concrete results. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Not content with being just a philanthropist, in 2001, Saunders and his friend Ed Law co-founded and provided $50,000 to launch Grameen de la Frontera in Sonora, Mexico. Today, it provides tiny loans and health care services to more than 5,000 poor women in the southern half of Sonora and the rural areas around Ciudad Obregon. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;In receiving his award, Saunders said: You dont do things for awards and recognition. But, this is very meaningful to me as an acknowledgment of almost 20 years of commitment to helping poor women achieve new possibilities.&lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;The Grameen Foundation Humanitarian Award recognizes global leaders who have dedicated their talent, spirit, resources and resolve to fighting poverty. Past recipients include Her Majesty Queen Sofia of Spain, President Gloria Arroyo of the Philippines, and former South African first lady Graça Machel.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;CENTER&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;A HREF='http://www.grameenfoundation.org'&gt;Support Grameen Foundation -- Fighting poverty with microfinance&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/CENTER&gt;&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=cTNDH6PegaY:W6QVrnGGu2I:yIl2AUoC8zA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=cTNDH6PegaY:W6QVrnGGu2I:dnMXMwOfBR0"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=cTNDH6PegaY:W6QVrnGGu2I:7Q72WNTAKBA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Grameen/~4/cTNDH6PegaY" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description>
	         <pubDate>Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
	         <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.grameenfoundation.org/resource_center/news/~story=389</guid>
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	         <title>Muhammad Yunus and Michael Chu Debate Future of Microfinance </title>
	         <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Grameen/~3/kpX0P1uorps/~story=388</link>
	         <description>&lt;p&gt;What is the role of commercialization, commercial capital and commercial investors in delivering microfinance to poor people? Is it ethical to make money out of the poor? These were the central questions of a debate organized by the World Microfinance Forum Geneva between Muhammad Yunus and Michael Chu, one of the visionaries behind Banco Compartamos. The Forum drew together more than 400 microfinance practitioners to discuss issues facing the microfinance industry. &lt;a href="http://www.microfinanceforum.org/cm_data/WMFG_Symposium_Special_Issue_Is_it_Fair_to_do_business_with_the_Poor.pdf" target="_blank"&gt;Read the debate&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;CENTER&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;A HREF='http://www.grameenfoundation.org'&gt;Support Grameen Foundation -- Fighting poverty with microfinance&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/CENTER&gt;&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=kpX0P1uorps:JWTziZA4yEA:yIl2AUoC8zA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=kpX0P1uorps:JWTziZA4yEA:dnMXMwOfBR0"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=kpX0P1uorps:JWTziZA4yEA:7Q72WNTAKBA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Grameen/~4/kpX0P1uorps" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description>
	         <pubDate>Tue, 31 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
	         <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.grameenfoundation.org/resource_center/news/~story=388</guid>
	      <feedburner:origLink>http://www.grameenfoundation.org/resource_center/news/~story=388</feedburner:origLink></item>
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	         <title>GF President and CEO Testifies before Congress</title>
	         <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Grameen/~3/3Ogi_eIKE-c/~story=387</link>
	         <description>&lt;img hspace="5" src="http://www.grameenfoundation.org/images-builtin/Alex_testify.JPG" align="left" vspace="5" border="0" /&gt; 
  &lt;p&gt;Grameen Foundation President Alex Counts delivered oral testimony before the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs. The subcommittee makes budgetary recommendations on foreign aid programs and institutions, which include the United Nations among others. Alex Counts urged the committee to make funding for microfinance a priority, noting its success in alleviating poverty. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.grameenfoundation.org/docs/resource_center/Alex_Counts_%20FY10_Open_Witness_Hearing_Testimony%20%282%29.pdf" target="_blank"&gt;Read Alex Counts testimony&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;CENTER&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;A HREF='http://www.grameenfoundation.org'&gt;Support Grameen Foundation -- Fighting poverty with microfinance&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/CENTER&gt;&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=3Ogi_eIKE-c:3plhjtzPdYs:yIl2AUoC8zA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=3Ogi_eIKE-c:3plhjtzPdYs:dnMXMwOfBR0"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=3Ogi_eIKE-c:3plhjtzPdYs:7Q72WNTAKBA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Grameen/~4/3Ogi_eIKE-c" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description>
	         <pubDate>Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
	         <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.grameenfoundation.org/resource_center/news/~story=387</guid>
	      <feedburner:origLink>http://www.grameenfoundation.org/resource_center/news/~story=387</feedburner:origLink></item>
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	         <title>GF Featured in Computerworld</title>
	         <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Grameen/~3/TmU6yqBWmk8/~story=377</link>
	         <description>In this &lt;a href="http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&amp;amp;articleId=334411"&gt;Computerworld&lt;/a&gt; piece, George Conard, executive director of Grameen Foundation's Mifos Initiative, explains how building strong back-end technology can help microfinance institutions reduce costs and get better information on which products are working.  In addition, he points out that a strong technology backbone is essential for organizations that want to adopt mobile banking and other handheld devices.&lt;CENTER&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;A HREF='http://www.grameenfoundation.org'&gt;Support Grameen Foundation -- Fighting poverty with microfinance&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/CENTER&gt;&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=TmU6yqBWmk8:iQO3AG4yeKI:yIl2AUoC8zA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=TmU6yqBWmk8:iQO3AG4yeKI:dnMXMwOfBR0"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=TmU6yqBWmk8:iQO3AG4yeKI:7Q72WNTAKBA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Grameen/~4/TmU6yqBWmk8" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description>
	         <pubDate>Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
	         <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.grameenfoundation.org/resource_center/news/~story=377</guid>
	      <feedburner:origLink>http://www.grameenfoundation.org/resource_center/news/~story=377</feedburner:origLink></item>
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	         <title>GF Featured in Voice of America</title>
	         <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Grameen/~3/N4HbXSLF4Zc/~story=378</link>
	         <description>&lt;p&gt;In this interview with the &lt;a href="http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2009-03-09-voa5.cfm"&gt;Voice of America&lt;/a&gt;, GF president Alex Counts discusses two new technology initiatives that are designed to improve healthcare delivery in Ghana and provide agricultural information and services to rural farmers in Uganda. The projects are being funded by &lt;a href="http://www.grameenfoundation.org/resource_center/newsroom/news_releases/~story=375"&gt;two grants&lt;/a&gt; totalling $4.7 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;CENTER&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;A HREF='http://www.grameenfoundation.org'&gt;Support Grameen Foundation -- Fighting poverty with microfinance&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/CENTER&gt;&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=N4HbXSLF4Zc:Y2I75aWcjUQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=N4HbXSLF4Zc:Y2I75aWcjUQ:dnMXMwOfBR0"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=N4HbXSLF4Zc:Y2I75aWcjUQ:7Q72WNTAKBA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Grameen/~4/N4HbXSLF4Zc" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description>
	         <pubDate>Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0400</pubDate>
	         <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.grameenfoundation.org/resource_center/news/~story=378</guid>
	      <feedburner:origLink>http://www.grameenfoundation.org/resource_center/news/~story=378</feedburner:origLink></item>
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	         <title>Accelerating Poverty Reduction in Bangladesh White Paper Released</title>
	         <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Grameen/~3/IOoL8-ZnHOs/~story=376</link>
	         <description>The experience of the Grameen Family of Companies, now numbering more than thirty,
&lt;br /&gt;demonstrates that social enterprise in the fields of health, education, technology and beyond
&lt;br /&gt;is not only a doable proposition, but a necessary one. This white paper, by M. Khalid Shams,  argues that it should be undertaken by successful
microfinance institutions to leverage their existing microfinance operations and knowledge of
the poor, especially the poorest, as Grameen Bank has done across a broad spectrum of social and economic sectors. &lt;a href="http://www.grameenfoundation.org/pubdownload/~pubid=62"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Complimentary download through March 31, 2009; $5 thereafter.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.grameenfoundation.org/pubdownload/~pubid=62" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;CENTER&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;A HREF='http://www.grameenfoundation.org'&gt;Support Grameen Foundation -- Fighting poverty with microfinance&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/CENTER&gt;&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=IOoL8-ZnHOs:7Jcs26_eMHg:yIl2AUoC8zA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=IOoL8-ZnHOs:7Jcs26_eMHg:dnMXMwOfBR0"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=IOoL8-ZnHOs:7Jcs26_eMHg:7Q72WNTAKBA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Grameen/~4/IOoL8-ZnHOs" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description>
	         <pubDate>Fri, 06 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
	         <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.grameenfoundation.org/resource_center/news/~story=376</guid>
	      <feedburner:origLink>http://www.grameenfoundation.org/resource_center/news/~story=376</feedburner:origLink></item>
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	         <title>GF Receives $4.7 Million in Funding from the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation</title>
	         <link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Grameen/~3/fD43ON3i4v4/~story=375</link>
	         <description>&lt;p&gt;Grameen Foundation today announced it has received two grants totaling more than $4.7 million from the Bill &amp;amp; Melinda Gates Foundation to support technology initiatives aimed at improving healthcare delivery in Ghana and providing information services to poor rural farmers in Uganda. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;Mobile devices are fast becoming the channel for sharing a wide range of information and knowledge across the developing world, but the focus has been more on high-end devices, said Alex Counts, president and CEO of Grameen Foundation. We hope our initiatives in Ghana and Uganda will show how basic mobile phones can be tools for providing services that benefit the rural poor and other disadvantaged communities. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;One grant will support the development of mobile applications that will enable healthcare workers to enhance the quality of healthcare delivery and increase the range of services available in these communities. A team from Grameen Foundations Technology Center will be working with Ghana Health Service officials and researchers from Columbia Universitys Mailman School of Public Health in the countrys Dangbe West region to develop and test applications that could eventually be made available across the country. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;One application will allow nurses, who currently spend roughly 30 percent of their time entering patient information into paper-based reports, to collect and transmit data more efficiently using their mobile phones. This will allow them to spend more time providing primary care services to patients, and will also give the Ghana Health Service more timely and accurate information that will help improve the quality and efficiency of the healthcare system. The team will also develop additional applications based on the findings of research into other critical health information needs of the communities. &lt;/p&gt;
  &lt;p&gt;The second grant will help to lay the groundwork for building a network of Community Knowledge Workers as information hubs for smallholder farmers in Uganda and assessing their impact. Leveraging its experience in establishing that countrys successful Village Phone initiative, Grameen Foundation will recruit and train Village Phone Operators, agricultural extension agents, and other individuals living and working in rural communities to build the network. The Community Knowledge Workers will use mobile phones to disseminate critical agricultural information to farmers, link them to markets and other key resources and collect information about the communities needs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;CENTER&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;B&gt;&lt;A HREF='http://www.grameenfoundation.org'&gt;Support Grameen Foundation -- Fighting poverty with microfinance&lt;/A&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;HR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;/CENTER&gt;&lt;div class="feedflare"&gt;
&lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=fD43ON3i4v4:sYJFb2MKDnc:yIl2AUoC8zA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=fD43ON3i4v4:sYJFb2MKDnc:dnMXMwOfBR0"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=dnMXMwOfBR0" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?a=fD43ON3i4v4:sYJFb2MKDnc:7Q72WNTAKBA"&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Grameen?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"&gt;&lt;/img&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Grameen/~4/fD43ON3i4v4" height="1" width="1"/&gt;</description>
	         <pubDate>Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
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