Note to Correspondents

Marking First International Day of Happiness, United Nations Academic Impact

 

to Co-host Event on ‘Happiness, Well-being’ with Permanent Mission of Bhutan

 

To mark the first International Day of Happiness, the United Nations Academic Impact of the Department of Public Information will host, on Wednesday, 20 March, a conversation on “Happiness and well-being:  Essential for a sustainable future.”

The conversation, convened in association with the Permanent Mission of Bhutan to the United Nations, will be held at Headquarters in Conference Room 3 (North Lawn Building) from 1:15—2:30 pm.  Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, will introduce the theme of the day’s conversation. 

The Under-Secretary-General will be joined by the following special guests:  Lhatu Wangchuk, Permanent Representative of Bhutan to the United Nations;  Hamid Al Bayati, Permanent Representative of Iraq to the United Nations; Anwarul Karim Chowdhury, former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations;  Judy Kuriansky, Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, Columbia University Teachers College; Jo Anne Murphy, Office of Global Learning, Fairleigh Dickinson University; and Latoya Ferns, Student, Durham University, United Kingdom.

Members of the United Nations Staff Recreation Council Jazz Society will present musical performance.

The General Assembly, by resolution A/RES/66/281, proclaimed 20 March as the International Day of Happiness.  The text recognizes the "relevance of happiness and well-being as universal goals […] and the importance of their recognition in public policy objectives”; and the need for "a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to economic growth that promotes sustainable development, poverty eradication, happiness and the well-being of all peoples."

The event is open to all.  However, to attend, one needs to register by sending an e-mail to academicimpact@un.org (subject: IDH).  For further information, please contact Hasan Ferdous, tel. +1 212 963 6555; e-mail:  ferdous@un.org.

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For information media • not an official record