Press Release

The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Palau, Permanent Mission of São Tomé and Príncipe and the Permanent Mission of Socialist Republic of Viet Nam to the United Nations organized a special event entitled “Happiness and Well-being in the UN 2030 Agenda: Achieving a New Vision of Sustainable Development for the People and the Planet” on 20 March 2016 at the United Nations in New York to celebrate the International Day of Happiness. The event was a tribute to Bhutan for its initiative in spearheading the United Nations resolution A/RES/65/309 entitled “Happiness: towards a holistic approach to development” that was adopted on 19 July 2011.

The daylong event was organized in collaboration with various civil society organizations. Participants included the diplomatic community at-large, scientific experts, personalities, celebrities and artists and representatives of youth. The program included a special performance by UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Ani Choying Drolma and a special address by Mr. Mogens Lykketoft, President of the UN General Assembly. Permanent Representatives of several Missions to the United Nations as well as representatives from civil society organizations and the academia made statements on the issue of happiness, in which they also paid tribute to Bhutan for its pioneering role in promoting happiness in the global development agenda. The program also included cultural performances by various artists and activities such as meditative techniques aimed to the visualization of increasing the happiness in the world.

H.E. Ambassador Kunzang C. Namgyel, Permanent Representative of Bhutan to the United Nations made a statement to acknowledge the tribute to Bhutan. In her statement, Ambassador conveyed the warm greetings of His Majesty the King. She said that under the wise and able leadership of the Monarchs, Bhutan had endeavored to fulfill the vision and goals of the Charter of the United Nations. In this context, she mentioned Bhutan, guided by its development philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH), had ensured inclusive development and achieved most of the targets of the MDGs; successfully established a vibrant democracy; and remained committed to safeguarding the world’s environmental heritage and thereby combatting climate change. She highlighted that the Agenda 2030 provided a historic opportunity to ensure a happier world and in this regard called for the need to awaken the spirit of global solidarity and shared values for the sake of the planet and for the sake of all humanity.

 
Statement by H.E. Ambassador Kunzang C. Namgyel
International Day of Happiness, 20 March 2016, United Nations, New York
A Tribute to the Kingdom of Bhutan –
“Happiness and Well-being in the UN 2030 Agenda: Achieving a New Vision of Sustainable Development for the People and Planet”
 

Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen,

At the outset, I would like to convey to this august gathering the warm greetings of His Majesty the King.

On behalf of the Government and people of Bhutan, I would like to thank the Permanent Missions of Palau, Sao Tome and Principe and Vietnam for organizing this event to celebrate the International Day of Happiness in tribute to my country, the Kingdom of Bhutan. It is a great honor to be representing my country to accept this tribute, which we do so with all humility.

Since joining the United Nations 45 years ago, under the wise and able leadership of our Monarchs, the people of Bhutan have endeavored to fulfill the vision and goals set forth in our Charter.

Guided by our development philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH), which is essentially development with human values, we have consistently worked to ensure that the peace, happiness and the well being of our people always remain at the core of our socio-economic and political development.

Through our socio-economic investments, particularly in health and education, we have ensured inclusive development and achieved most of the targets of the MDGs.

Under the initiatives of our Monarchs, we have steadily and in a unique and peaceful manner successfully established a vibrant democracy to ensure good governance for current and future generations.

Despite our limited resources, we have pledged to safeguard not just ours but the world’s environmental heritage through a constitutional mandate that requires maintaining a minimum of 60 percent of our land under forest coverage in perpetuity. We remain committed to maintaining our status as a net carbon sink for all times and thereby contribute to global efforts to combat climate change.

To fulfill our commitment to promote international peace and security, Bhutan unconditionally offered to contribute to peacekeeping operations at the height of the Ebola crisis in September 2014. In less than a year, we contributed about 29 IPO, MOs and SOs to 9 missions. We are currently strengthening our capacity to deepen our engagements with UN in peacekeeping operations.

Peace, security and human rights will ultimately depend on an all-inclusive approach to development that puts people and the environment at the center. To contribute to the work of the UN in this regard, Bhutan spearheaded resolution 65/309 entitled “Happiness: towards a holistic approach to development” on 19 July 2011. A year later, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 66/281 establishing 20th March as the International Day of Happiness.

“Happiness” has certainly struck a global chord. People from all walks of life around the world have been celebrating to recognize the International Day of Happiness since 2013. More importantly, we have seen a profound shift in our attitudes and in our approach to development all over the world. A growing number of countries, leaders, public and civil society organizations, academia and most importantly individual citizens are starting to question the way we measure progress and are recognizing that happiness is fundamental to human existence.

The adoption of the 2030 Agenda with its focus on people, planet and peace is a strong testimony to such a shift in attitudes. It reaffirms that a common thread holding humanity together is our universal quest for a more holistic approach to development that promotes the happiness and well being of all peoples.

Agenda 2030 provides a historic opportunity to ensure a happier world. Building on the foundations that have been laid by the MDGs and with an unwavering faith in our common future let us truly awaken our spirit of global solidarity and shared values – for the sake of our planet, for the sake of our children, and for the sake of all humanity.

Thank you and wishing you all a MOST HAPPY DAY!