# International Day of Happiness established (28 June 2012)

URL: https://allhistories.com/bhutan/timeline/2012-international-day-of-happiness-established
Location: New York, United States
Themes: main-event

On 28 June 2012 the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 66/281, establishing 20 March as the International Day of Happiness. The first observance took place in 2013. The Wikipedia article credits the idea to Jayme Illien, who suggested it at the General Assembly in 2011, while Bhutan had already launched Resolution 65/309 on happiness and holistic growth. Bhutan's Prime Minister Jigme Thinley and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon convened a high-level UN meeting on happiness and well-being in 2012, which issued the first World Happiness Report. For Bhutan the day reflected forty years of the Gross National Happiness idea, which a 2008 survey and later surveys in 2010 and 2015 tried to quantify. The day has become a recurring international observance, but Gross National Happiness has attracted criticism. Some commentators and Human Rights Watch have argued that the language of happiness masked human rights concerns, including the treatment of Nepali-speaking Lhotshampa, a charge the Bhutanese government disputes and answers by pointing to its constitutional guarantees. At this point in the timeline (2012), Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck (9 December 2006 – present), Druk Gyalpo, reigns as King of Bhutan and head of state; since the Constitution took effect in July 2008 Bhutan has been a constitutional monarchy with an elected government; Trulku Jigme Chhoeda (1996 – present) was Je Khenpo, the chief abbot of the central monastic body; Jigme Jigdrel Namgyal (Zhabdrung mind incarnation), lifespan 2003 – present, is recorded as a Zhabdrung incarnation, a religious figure normally without civil office; Prime Minister Jigme Thinley (9 April 2008 – 28 April 2013) led the government.

## Why it matters
The annual day gave Bhutan's development philosophy a permanent place in the international calendar, while renewing debate over how happiness is measured and who benefits from the label.

Ruler at the Time: [Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck](https://allhistories.com/bhutan/rulers/jigme-khesar-namgyel-wangchuck-2006)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — International Day of Happiness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Day_of_Happiness)
- [Wikipedia — Gross National Happiness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_National_Happiness)