1st Global Happiness Policy Report launched in Dubai

DUBAI – 10 February 2018: UAE’s Minister of State for Happiness and Wellbeing Ohood Al-Roumi announced on Saturday the first Global Happiness Policy Report, which sets out policies needed to make a genuine difference in the well-being of humanity.

The report highlights global best practices and inspiring experiences of happiness and well-being, celebrating the best government achievements in this area.

“My dream is that one day we can look back and see this as the moment when we started to build a world not focused only on the material aspects of growth, but on people’s happiness and well-being,” Al-Roumi said during her speech at the opening session of the Global Dialogue for Happiness in Dubai.

AL-Roumi highlighted during her speech that government policy and societal well-being are intertwined, saying that the responsibility of every government today should be to boost the happiness and well-being of their people through effectively tackling challenges including poverty, loneliness, poor health, malnutrition and the lack of opportunity.

"Many dialogues are about managing challenges, but ours is about embracing opportunity - the opportunity to build a happier society. We are here to move from great dreams to great ideas. We are here to move from great ideas to great policies and we are here to move from great policies to achieving impact in every home, workplace and community,” She said.

The Global Dialogue for Happiness serves as a curtain raiser to the World Government Summit 2018 (WGS 2018), which will take place from February 11 to 13 in Dubai.

The platform has happiness experts, government officials and representatives of international organizations discussing the science of happiness and examining ways to help governments adopt happiness policies to better the lives of their citizens.

The WGS convenes more than 4,000 participants from 140 countries, including heads of state and governments, as well as top-tier representatives of 16 international organizations.

It features five forums that examine the challenges of vital sectors for the future with a view to finding the best resolutions for the greater global good.