Peace and economics

Muhammed Yunnus won the Nobel Peace Prize for the financial innovations embodied in the Grameen Bank.

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

Mr Yunus set up the bank in 1976 with just $27 from his own pocket. Thirty years on, the bank has 6.6 million borrowers, of which 97% are women, according to the Grameen website.

There is a nice introduction to the notion of microfinance here.