UN / HAPPINESS

Marking the International Day of Happiness, celebrated today, Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said this “is not a trivial topic” as “its centrality to our well-being makes it a serious issue indeed.” In 2015 the UN launched 17 Sustainable Development Goals that seek to end poverty, reduce inequality, and protect our planet – three key aspects that lead to well-being and happiness. UNIFEED

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:00
• Production Date: 20 March 2017
• Asset Language: English
• Personal Subject: AMINA J. MOHAMMED; JEFFREY SACHS
• Subject Topical: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
• MAMS Id: 1852497
• Parent Id: 1852497
• Alternate Title: unifeed170320a

Description

STORY: UN / HAPPINESS
TRT: 02:00
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 20 MARCH 2017, NEW YORK CITY / RECENT

Shotlist

RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1. Close up, exterior United Nations flag outside headquarters

20 MARCH 2017, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, ECOSOC chambers
3. Wide shot, dais
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Happiness is joy and the pleasure of being alive, but it is not a trivial topic. It’s centrality to our well-being makes it a serious issue indeed. That is why the pursuit of happiness is an objective of the 1789 French declaration of human and civic rights, and the United States declaration of independence, and why it is embedded in the constitutions of Bhutan, Japan, South Korea, and France.”
7. Med shot, delegates
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Ohood Al Roumi, Minister for Happiness and Tolerance, United Arab Emirates (UAE):
“While governments do not secure personal happiness, people expect governments to provide the conditions under which they can pursue their dreams. They want quality education and healthcare, they want to feel safe and secure, and they want decent jobs and housing. As governments we are responsible for creating such an enabling environment that empowers our people to choose to be happy.”
9. Wide shot, dais
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Jeffrey Sacks, Director, United Nations Sustainable Solutions Network
“It’s not low taxation that’s the source of happiness. It’s people paying their share and then joining in the shared benefits. My own country, the United States, is way down on the list; not because it is a poor country, it’s a very rich country, but because our ethos in this country is very different. The ethos is, take what you can, grab, don’t pay your taxes, and if you can get a tax cut, even if 20 million are going to get thrown off the health care rolls, that’s OK. That’s actually the government’s proposal.”
11. Wide shot, audience applause

Storyline

Marking the International Day of Happiness, celebrated today (20 Mar), Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said this “is not a trivial topic” as “it’s centrality to our well-being makes it a serious issue indeed.

Addressing a special event commemorating the Day at UN Headquarters, Mohammed noted that the concept of the pursuit of happiness “is an objective of the 1789 French declaration of human and civic rights, and the United States declaration of independence, and why it is embedded in the constitutions of Bhutan, Japan, South Korea, and France.”

Ohood Al Roumi, who is the Minister for Happiness and Tolerance of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) told the meeting that “while governments do not secure personal happiness, people expect governments to provide the conditions under which they can pursue their dreams. They want quality education and healthcare, they want to feel safe and secure, and they want decent jobs and housing.”

As governments, she said, “we are responsible for creating such an enabling environment that empowers our people to choose to be happy.”

During his address, economist Jeffrey Sacks, who is the Director of the United Nations Sustainable Solutions Network, said “it’s not low taxation that’s the source of happiness. It’s people paying their share and then joining in the shared benefits.”

The United States, Sacks said, “is way down” on the happiness index list; “not because it is a poor country, it’s a very rich country, but because our ethos in this country is very different.”

That ethos, he said, “is, take what you can, grab, don’t pay your taxes, and if you can get a tax cut, even if 20 million are going to get thrown off the health care rolls, that’s OK. That’s actually the government’s proposal.”

Since 2013, the United Nations has celebrated the International Day of Happiness as a way to recognise the importance of happiness in the lives of people around the world. In 2015 the UN launched 17 Sustainable Development Goals that seek to end poverty, reduce inequality, and protect our planet – three key aspects that lead to well-being and happiness.