Bangladeshi Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their work in advancing economic and social opportunities.

The economist and his bank will share the prize. They were cited for their efforts to help "create economic and social development from below" in their home country by using innovative economic programs such as microcredit lending.

Bangladeshi microcredit pioneer Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their work in advancing economic and social opportunities for the poor, particularly women.
(Keystone/Martial Trezzini/Associated Press)

"Every single individual on Earth has both the potential and the right to live a decent life. Across cultures and civilizations, Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that even the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own development," the Nobel Committee said in its citation.

Yunus has drawn praise for advancing microcredit which has been credited with helping poor women to advance their lives and pull them out of poverty.

"Economic growth and political democracy cannot achieve their full potential unless the female half of humanity participates on an equal footing with the male," the committee said.

Grameen Bank, which was founded by Yunus, provides credit to "the poorest of the poor" in rural Bangladesh, without any collateral, according to its website.

"At GB, credit is a cost-effective weapon to fight poverty and it serves as a catalyst in the overall development of socio-economic conditions of the poor who have been kept outside the banking orbit on the ground that they are poor and hence not bankable," the committee said.