THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE HAS BEEN AWARDED — and, in something of a departure, it’s gone to somebody who actually deserves it:

Bangladesh’s Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank have been awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.

Mr Yunus, an economist, founded the bank, which is one of the pioneers of micro-credit lending schemes for the poor in Bangladesh.

The bank is renowned for lending money to the least well-off, especially women, so that they can launch their own businesses.

Micro-credit is far more effective at fighting poverty than big government programs. And Grameen’s efforts to empower women have made them very unpopular with Islamists, which is reason enough to applaud. As reader Kjell Hagen emails:

Business owners look to the future, not to “martyrdom”. And making women self-sustained economically helps improve equality between the sexes, which I think is an important lever to weaken the islamo-
fascist stronghold on poor, islamic countries. No wonder this bank was bombed earlier by islamic terrorists.

Indeed.