World Happiness Report 2021

• 20 Mar 2021

Why in News

The Sustainable Development Solutions Network for the United Nations released the World Happiness Report 2021, a day before the International Happiness Day.

• This year it focuses on the effects of Covid-19 and how people all over the world have fared.

International Happiness Day

• About:
  
  • It is celebrated every year on 20^th March to highlight the importance of happiness in the diurnal lives of people.
  • The United Nations started to celebrate the International Day of Happiness in 2013 but a resolution for the same was passed in July, 2012.
    
    • This resolution was first initiated by Bhutan which emphasised on the importance of national happiness over national income since the early 1970s, thereby adopting the Gross National Happiness (GNH) over Gross National Product (GNP).
      
      • Gross National Happiness: The phrase ‘gross national happiness’ was first coined by the 4^th King of Bhutan, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, in 1972.
        
        • The concept implies that sustainable development should take a holistic approach towards notions of progress and give equal importance to non-economic aspects of wellbeing.
      • GNP is the total value of all finished goods and services produced by a country's citizens in a given financial year, irrespective of their location.
• Theme of 2021: “Happiness For All, Forever”.

Key Points

• About:
  
  • The World Happiness Report ranks 149 countries by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be.
  • The rankings are based on polling (Gallup World Poll) which looks at six variables:
    
    • Gross Domestic Product Per Capita (Purchasing Power Parity).
    • Social Support.
    • Healthy life expectancy at birth.
    • Freedom to make life choices.
    • Generosity.
    • Perceptions of corruption.
  • Respondents are asked to rate their own current lives on a 0-10 scale.
• Top Performers:
  
  • Finland has been ranked as the happiest country in the world for the fourth consecutive year.
  • Followed by Iceland, Denmark, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and Norway.
• Worst Performers:
  
  • Afghanistan (149) is the most unhappy country.
  • Followed by Zimbabwe (148), Rwanda (147), Botswana (146) and Lesotho (145).
• India’s Neighbours:
  
  • Pakistan-105.
  • Bangladesh-101.
  • China-84.
• India:
  
  • India has been ranked 139, out of 149 countries evaluated.
  • In 2020, India was ranked 144 out of 156 countries surveyed.

Sustainable Development Network Solution

• The SDSN, launched in 2012, mobilizes global scientific and technological expertise to promote practical problem solving for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement.
• It was established under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary-General.
• The SDSN and the Bertelsmann Stiftung have been publishing the annual SDG Index & Dashboards Global Report since 2016.

Source:HT