International Day of Happiness celebrated on 20 March 2017

20 March: International Day of Happiness

The International Day of Happiness was celebrated on 20 March 2017 across the world. To mark the occasion, the United Nations released the World Happiness Report 2017, which ranked 155 countries by their happiness levels.

In the report, while Norway was adjudged as the happiest country in the world, India was ranked 122, much behind most of the SAARC nations including Pakistan and Nepal.

About International Day of Happiness

• The General Assembly of the United Nations created the International Day of Happiness through a resolution on 12 July 2012. Consequently, the annual day was celebrated for the first time in 2013.

• 20 March was declared as the day of International Happiness following a Bhutanese concept that was coined by the fourth king of Bhutan Jigme Singye Wangchuck in 1970’s.

Norway ranked 1 in World Happiness Report, India slips to 122

• It was when the country for the first time replaced the Gross National Product (GNP) with the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH) to measure the living standards of its population.

• On this day, the United Nations invites Member States, international and regional organizations, as well as civil society, including non-governmental organizations and individuals, to observe the day in an appropriate manner.

• The day also provides an occasion for the policy makers to organize public awareness-raising activities about the importance of happiness in our lives.