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The Nobel Peace Prize Winner visits the Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026 to sign the Memorandum of Understanding for the development of a legacy project.
The economist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus met the Organising Committee of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games at the Foundation's headquarters in Milan.
The reason for the visit was the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the development of a Legacy project starting in 2023, to have impacts well beyond 2026.
The objectives of the project
The objective of the MOU is to assist the Foundation in implementing a sustainable purchasing strategy. In the first phase, the purchase categories of Milano Cortina 2026 that can have the greatest social impact will be identified, and then collaborate with: social businesses, small and medium enterprises and very small enterprises, to ensure that purchases, including those of foundation partners who wish to participate in the project, can create the greatest possible social benefit. The project will be implemented by the Foundation together with the Yunus Sport Hub and by the entire ecosystem that refers to Professor Yunus.
During the morning of May 29, in addition to signing the MOU, Prof. Yunus met the employees of Milano Cortina 2026 and a selection from the world of social business in the auditorium.
“Professor Muhammad Yunus is a source of great inspiration – stated Giovanni Malagò, President of the Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026 – for the contribution he provides to the world of sport through his commitment to the development of the social enterprise network. For some time he has undertaken a collaboration with the International Olympic Committee, so that together we can achieve the objective of hosting a Games with the greatest positive impact on their host territory. I thank him for his visit and I am happy that Milano Cortina 2026 can be an accelerator of these processes".
“We are very grateful to Professor Muhammad Yunus – declared Andrea Varnier, CEO of the Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026 – for this meeting and for his attention towards people using the power of sport to promote change. There are several collaborations between the Olympic world and the Yunus Sport Hub, starting from Pyeongchang 2018, up to Paris 2024. The objective is to create a synergy between the largest sporting event in the world, which we will host in Italy in 2026, and the world of social entrepreneurship and the circular economy."
“Sport is natural – said Muhammad Yunus – for all human beings. It brings into play all human strengths and emotions, regardless of differences. This gives him enormous power. I urge you to channel this power to achieve social goals and peace".
The story of Yunus
Yunus became famous throughout the world for his revolutionary micro-credit system: granting small loans to workers who could not obtain traditional bank credit. In the late 1970s he established the Grameen Bank (the Village Bank), founded on his belief that credit was a basic human right. Within a quarter of a century the bank had become the headquarters for a network of similar institutions in 100 countries, enabling millions of people to escape poverty through the granting of personal economic rights. In doing so, Yunus supported the rebirth and development of thousands of economic activities that were fundamental to the growth of entire rural areas.
For this effort aimed at creating development "from the bottom-up", in 2006 prof. Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize. Often referred to as the "world banker of the poor", Yunus is a board member of the United Nations Foundation and has received numerous international awards for his humanitarian efforts. In 2020, he was awarded the Olympic Laurel award at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games. The award created by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to honour exceptional individuals for their achievements in education, culture, development and peace through sport.
