March 20: International Day of Happiness

Every year March 20 is celebrated as International Day of Happiness. The day is observed by the United Nations. This year the day was celebrated under the theme

Theme: Happiness for All, Together

Highlights

The United Nations on the International Day of Happiness called all 206 nations to adopt “Ten Steps to Global Happiness”. The United Nations released the World Happiness Index with Finland topping the ranking.

History

The day was first proposed in 2006 when Jayme Illien proposed “happytalism”. She presented the theory as a new economic theory as that of communism, capitalism, socialism, colonialism, feudalism, etc. Jayme Illien was the CEO of the United Nations New World Order project, 2006. The project aimed at pushing happiness as a fundamental right of mankind.

The concept of happytalism was turned down by the United Nations. Rather, the organization adopted International Day of Happiness in 2008 that was also suggested by Illien.

Month: Current Affairs - March, 2020