Progress towards Sustainable Development Can Help Spread Joy, Secure Peace, Secretary-General Says in Message for International Happiness Day

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for the International Day of Happiness, observed on 20 March:

This year’s International Day of Happiness is focused on climate action for a happy planet.

Everyone can be part of our campaign:  Governments, civic groups, the media and individuals.  This year, even cartoon characters have joined in as the United Nations teams up with a group famous for lacking good cheer:  the Angry Birds.

These animated ambassadors are helping to raise awareness about the importance of climate action for our common future.  You can join them by sharing your own climate actions using the hashtag #AngryBirdsHappyPlanet.

At this time of grave injustices, devastating wars, mass displacement, grinding poverty and other man-made causes of suffering, the International Day of Happiness is a global chance to assert that peace, well-being and joy deserve primacy.  It is about more than individual contentment; it is an affirmation that we have a collective responsibility to humanity.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is our plan to realize a life of dignity for all people.  By advancing progress towards the interlinked Sustainable Development Goals, we can help spread happiness and secure peace.

The best way to celebrate this International Day of Happiness is by taking action to alleviate suffering.  In this spirit, let us use this occasion to renew a global spirit of solidarity to create a safer, more prosperous and more sustainable future for all.