Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus spoke as the keynote speaker at the 2023 Charity Gala event of the German Postcode Lottery in Dusseldorf on May 24.
Between 33 to 40 percent of revenues from the post code lotteries support charities around the world. The Dutch Postcode Lottery (DPCL) and the German Post Code Lottery (GPCL) have been supporting Yunus' global social business movement through YY Foundation for many years, according to a press release of the Yunus Centre.
Yunus has been invited to be their international ambassador for the post code lottery since 2012, said the release.
At the event, he (Yunus) spoke about his journey with microcredit, social business, universal entrepreneurship, and campaigning for creating a new civilization by creating a 3Zero World of zero global warming, zero wealth concentration and zero unemployment.
He talked about re-designing the economic framework, policies and institutions which he said were responsible for all the mega problems of the world.
Hollywood actor and activist George Clooney who is also an international ambassador for the post code lottery, elaborated on his work along with his wife Amal through the Clooney Foundation and highlighted their work in South Sudan and Darfur and other conflict ridden places where he found microcredit program that Professor Yunus created had made a world of difference to people --- he called microcredit "masterful".
An ambassador for the lottery is Yusra Mardini, a refugee from Syria who competed at the Olympics as a member of the refugee team. She had to flee Syria at the age of 17 when her home was destroyed. Yusra is an ambassador attached with the UNHCR.
Clooney had also signed Yunus' call to End Genocide against the Rohingya more recently his call to make Covid-19 Vaccines as a Global Common Good free. Clooney in his talk with Professor Yunus said microcredit following Prof Yunus approach had made a big difference in the lives of people in the areas that he and Amal Clooney as part of the Clooney Foundation was working for in South Sudan/ Darfur.
The charity gala was attended by 500 high level citizens of Germany including representatives of the main charities of Germany and the winners of the lottery some of whom shared their stories of how they used their winnings.