Interim Political Leader: When Bangladeshi president Shahabuddin dissolved the parliament in August 2024 after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed fled the country, he nominated Muhammad Yunus to serve as the head of the interim government of Bangladesh, acceding to student demands. In August 2024, Yunus took the oath to serve as the Chief Advisor of the Bangladesh Interim Government. Yunus has pledged to organize a constituent assembly to draft and adopt a new, democratic and inclusive constitution that ensures the inviolability of human dignity. He also vowed to continue providing humanitarian aid to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and to support the garment industry affected by the unrest prior to his appointment.

“Banker to the Poor”: Yunus established the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in 1983 to help people escape from poverty by providing loans on terms suitable to them and by teaching them sound financial principles. Grameen Bank spearheaded a world movement to eradicate poverty through microlending. Replicas of the Grameen Bank model operate in over 100 countries. For this, Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. He is also the recipient of the American Presidential Medal of Freedom, among many other prestigious awards and honours.

Social Leader: Yunus was a member of the International Advisory Group for the Fourth World Conference on Women, a post appointed by the UNSG. He has served on the UN Expert Group on Women and Finance and on the board of directors of the United Nations Foundation, a charity for UN causes. Yunus founded The Yunus Centre in Dhaka—a think tank for social business working in the field of poverty alleviation and sustainability.