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    Declare Covid 19 vaccine a 'Global Common Good’ without ownership

    Synopsis

    Sharing his insights with FICCI FLO (FICCI Ladies Organisation) Prof Muhammad Yunus said, “Covid 19 has given us another chance, to change our direction otherwise world would have ended in few decades as a result of global warming, wealth concentration, poverty, Artificial Intelligence etc. so no going back, let’s just forge a new future.”

    Prof Mohammad Yunus in an interactive seesion with FICCI FLO.
    New Delhi: FLO, the women’s wing of FICCI organized a webinar with Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus where he emphasised that the present-day situation is a perfect foil to start new practices and business for social good, according to a release.

    Sharing his insights with FICCI FLO (FICCI Ladies Organisation) Prof Muhammad Yunus said, “Covid 19 has given us another chance, to change our direction otherwise world would have ended in few decades as a result of global warming, wealth concentration, poverty, Artificial Intelligence etc. so no going back, let’s just forge a new future.”

    “Social businesses are here to solve problems around the world like poverty alleviation, global warming, migrant workers, medical facilities etc., that’s what we did when we created Grameen Bank. A business solution model for people who needed it, particularly for poor women. Grameen Bank is all focused on poor women, as 97% (or 9 million) of our followers are women.”

    Speaking about the Covid 19 vaccine he said “The effectiveness of the vaccination will depend on its universality and to ensure the availability of the vaccine to all people on the planet almost at the same time, it has to be free from ownership. We should look at building pharmaceutical companies on a social business model as soon as possible. We have recently announced “Declare COVID-19 Vaccine a Global Common Good Now campaign” It has to be freed from commercial interest. The polio vaccine should be declared as a common good, not owned by anybody. Why not (have) the corona vaccine follow this path?” Many personalities across the world are supporting this campaign including Shabana Azmi and George Clooney.

    Jahnabi Phookan, national president FLO said “Grameen bank has enabled millions of poor women to be empowered economically. Grameen bank has helped and nourished women to grow and become self-reliant.”

    “We at FLO are focusing on sustainable livelihood and are connected with several implementing partners asking them to help us reach the grassroot level. In our 17 chapters across India we are adopting a village each, working with local NGOs involved in women-led enterprises. We are offering online training from NIITs for the grassroot level women to provide them with financial and digital literacy.”


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