By Carol Blair Vaughn

March 20^th is International Day of Happiness; as adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2011 this day promotes, preserves, and observes happiness as a universal right and goal, and has been celebrated every year since.

“Happiness is your birthright,” said singer Pharrell Williams on Happiness Day 2015.

“Happiness is a fundamental human right and goal,” added UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

The United Nations adopted UN Resolution 66/281 on June 28^th, 2012, at the world’s first high level meeting on happiness and well-being. Said Ban Ki-Moon at that meeting, “We need a new economic paradigm that recognizes the parity between the three pillars of sustainability development. Social, economic, and environmental well-being are indivisible. Together they define gross global happiness.”

The Kingdom of Bhutan has been measuring “Gross National Happiness” since the 1970s, and their Ambassador to the UN authored the first UN Happiness Resolution, “Happiness Towards a Holistic Approach to Development.”

So where does our tiny Costa Rica fall within the Happiness Spectrum this year?

The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN Initiative), has just released its World Happiness Report 2016 Update in advance of World Happiness Day, and golly, Costa Rica is the happiest in Latin America, but ranks at #14 behind the United States’ #13. Hmmmmm. I wonder if they polled the 70,000 Americans living currently in Costa Rica, with a 67 percent increase in folks collecting social security checks here between 2002 and today.

The update reported Denmark took first place, followed closely by Switzerland, Iceland, and Norway. A total of 156 countries were included, with participants self-reporting their levels of happiness.

Why is international happiness important in today’s world?

“Measuring self-reported happiness and achieving well-being should be on every nation’s agenda,” said Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. “Rather than taking a narrow approach focused solely on economic growth, we should promote societies that are prosperous, just, and environmentally sustainable.”

Four national governments: Bhutan, Ecuador, the UAE, and Venezuela have appointed Ministers of Happiness, responsible for coordinating their national efforts toward ensuring that its citizens remain happy. Costa Rica should follow suit.

Currently, Scandinavian countries dominate the Top Ten Happiness list, while those countries destabilized by war, conflict, or disease rank at the bottom, with Afghanistan, Togo, Syria, and Burundi in last place. Download the full list at worldhappiness.report

By all means celebrate International Happiness Day this Sunday by speaking as much Spanish as possible. Recent scientific studies from researchers at University of Vermont have concluded that Spanish is the happiest language in the world.

FELIZ DIA, and HAPPY DAY to everyone.

About the Author

Carol Blair Vaughn holds a Master’s Degree in Performing Arts and is a retired college professor from Washington, D.C. She inherited her love for Latin America from her father, the former U.S. Ambassador to Colombia, Panama, and Director of the Peace Corps, Jack Vaughn. Carol writes for the Association of Residents of Costa Rica (ARCR) and for an English language club in the southern region of Costa Rica. In the past, Carol served as Editor in Chief of What’s on Tap magazine.