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Welcome to The World Happiness Foundation’s Public Policy Forum

"We need to work together at a systemic level to create the necessary change"

Growing inequalities, lost diversity, pandemics, and climate change are only some of the serious challenges facing humanity in the coming decades. All of these crises are interconnected and we cannot confront them in isolation. Our current economic systems are failing to foster a productive and healthy balance between societal, individual, and environmental needs and goals.

That is why we support the leaders from governments and organizations that are disrupting current systems by implementing new policies and initiatives that are advancing the dialogue on creating economies of happiness and well-being for all.

In Partnership with the United Nations University for Peace

The Foundation stewards two UN resolutions:

The Foundation specifically stewards two UN resolutions:

UN RESOLUTION 65/309

Happiness: Towards a Holistic Approach to Development

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UN RESOLUTION 66/281

International Day
of Happiness

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We Support Global Political Initiatives

All of our work supports the UN Global Compact and many of the Sustainable Development Goals

We bring together the world leaders and experts on Public Policy across multiple disciplines such as Health Care, Education, Environment, Economy, Psychology, Business, Research, Statistics, and the United Nations 2030 agenda to breakdown silos and to improve the overall happiness and well-being of all beings.

We bring a holistic approach incorporating view from the leading institutions and the professionals behind the latest research and policies around the world.

We help advance the dialogue on Public Policy towards an Economy of Happiness and Well-Being.

GLOBAL HAPPINESS AND WELL-BEING POLICY REPORT

The 2019 Global Happiness and Well-Being Policy Report is produced by the Global Happiness Council (GHC) and contains papers by expert working groups on happiness for good governance. This report provides evidence and policy recommendations on best practices to promote happiness and well-being. The 2019 Global Happiness and Well-Being Policy Report was presented at World Government Summit held in Dubai on February 10, 2019.

WORLD HAPPINESS REPORT

The World Happiness Report is a landmark survey of the state of global happiness that ranks 156 countries by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be. The report is produced by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network in partnership with the Ernesto Illy Foundation. The World Happiness Report was written by a group of independent experts acting in their personal capacities. Any views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization, agency or program of the United Nations.

OECD BETTER LIFE INDEX

How is LIFE? There is more to life than the cold numbers of GDP and economic statistics – This Index allows you to compare well-being across countries, based on 11 topics the OECD has identified as essential, in the areas of material living conditions and quality of life.

HAPPY PLANET INDEX

The Happy Planet Index measures what matters: sustainable wellbeing for all. It tells us how well nations are doing at achieving long, happy, sustainable lives. Wealthy Western countries, often seen as the standard of success, do not rank highly on the Happy Planet Index. Instead, several countries in Latin America and the Asia Pacific region lead the way by achieving high life expectancy and wellbeing with much smaller Ecological Footprints. The Happy Planet Index provides a compass to guide nations, and shows that it is possible to live good lives without costing the Earth.

Join our World Happiness & Well-Being Public Policy Forum at the World Happiness Fest.

Gross National Happiness, or GNH, is a holistic and sustainable approach to development, which balances material and non-material values with the conviction that humans want to search for happiness. The objective of GNH is to achieve a balanced development in all facets of life that are essential; for our happiness.

We are in the age of the Anthropocene when the fate of the planet and all life is within the power of mankind. Boundless consumerism, widening socio-economic inequality and instability is causing rapid natura resource depletion and degradation. Climate change, species extinction, multiple crises, growing insecurity, instability and conflicts are not only diminishing our well-being but are also threatening our very survival.

Today, it is inconceivable for modern society to function without the business of commerce, finance, industry or trade. These very factors are altering human destiny by the day in extraordinary ways, both positive and negative. GNH directly addresses such global, national and individual challenges by pointing to the non-material roots of well-being and offering ways to balance and satisfy the dual needs of the human being within the limits of what nature can provide on a sustainable basis.

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The Economy of Happiness and Well-Being

We support the emergence of new economic paradigms

Growing inequalities, lost diversity, pandemics, and climate change are only some of the serious challenges that humanity faces in the coming decades. All of these crises are interconnected, and we cannot confront them in isolation. Our current economic systems are not designed to deliver a balanced approach to social and environmental initiatives. World Happiness Foundation Founder, Luis Gallardo addresses these issues in his report on The Economy of Happiness and Well-Being.

An economy is a collection of norms and rules that reward certain behaviors and punish others. The economies of the 21st century destroy natural wealth, degrade communal bonds, and incentivize overconsumption. This is how our economies have evolved to function, which also means that we can change them and evolve in new directions. It is time we think about how.

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Happytalism, Key to (Re)connection

Breathe, my dear - Luis Miguel Gallardo - Vietnam

Fundamental Peace: A Lighthouse From Thích Nhất Hạnh on the Roads of Vietnam

Luis Miguel Gallardo

I’m traveling in Vietnam now—the land that gave the world Thích Nhất Hạnh, known lovingly as Thầy, “teacher.” And I keep noticing something: Vietnam doesn’t ask me to be calm. Vietnam asks me to be alive. Scooters stream like schools of fish. Sidewalks become kitchens, conversations, commerce, and kindness. Incense smoke rises in thin prayers from temples tucked beside the ordinary. And in the middle of all this movement, Thầy’s teaching returns like a steady light: Peace is not something I reach later. Peace is what I practice now. Thầy wrote and taught for a lifetime—more than a hundred books, countless talks, countless cups of tea offered in silence and presence. And when I gather the essence of it all—when I reduce it down to what I can carry in a backpack and in a breath—what I find is not a complicated philosophy. I find a way of being human that doesn’t abandon anyone—not myself, not the stranger, not the Earth. This is the heart of my Fundamental Peace approach: not peace as a mood, but peace as

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Happytalism in Hanoi at WellSpring Bilingual School

From Congress Hall to School of Happiness: Confucius, Vietnam’s XIV Party Congress, and the Rise of Happytalism

Luis Miguel Gallardo

Hanoi has a particular kind of energy in January—quiet streets in the early morning, the scent of tea, and an almost tangible sense of history moving through the present. This year, that feeling is amplified as the city hosts (and the country turns its attention toward) the 14th National Party Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, scheduled for January 19–25, 2026—a five‑yearly gathering meant to set strategic direction and policy priorities through to 2030, and beyond. In moments like this—when a nation assembles to discuss its future—it becomes natural to ask a deeper question: What kind of development are we truly pursuing? Not only growth in output or infrastructure, but growth in human flourishing. Not only progress measured by numbers, but progress measured by peace, meaning, trust, and happiness. Strikingly, the announced theme for the XIV Congress explicitly includes the aspiration for “peace” and “happiness” alongside prosperity, civilization, and national development goals. That language matters. Because it quietly points toward a truth we often forget: A society does not become happy by accident. It becomes happy by

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Thích Nhất Hạnh teaching children in rural Vietnam in 1964, at the School of Youth for Social Service. He pioneered “Engaged Buddhism” – bringing compassionate action into communities, an approach that aligns deeply with Happytalism’s call for co-creating a happier society.

Happytalism and Thích Nhất Hạnh’s Legacy: Freedom, Consciousness, and Happiness as Pillars of Fundamental Peace

Luis Miguel Gallardo

In the heart of Vietnam – the homeland of Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh – a new vision for global flourishing is taking root. As I visit Vietnam to present the philosophy of Happytalism in the local language, it is fitting to honor the wisdom of Thích Nhất Hạnh (fondly known as “Thầy” by his students) that resonates so deeply with this vision. Happytalism is more than a development paradigm; it is a manifesto for “a world of freedom, consciousness, and happiness for all”. These three values – freedom, consciousness, and happiness – form what we call “Fundamental Peace,” meaning peace is not merely the absence of conflict but the presence of liberty, awareness, and joy. Thích Nhất Hạnh’s most influential teachings on inner freedom, mindful consciousness, and true happiness can be seen as key pillars upholding this Fundamental Peace.  As an architect of Happytalism, we recognize Thầy’s impact: his teachings on mindfulness and interconnectedness are “foundational for understanding the symbiosis of individual and collective happiness”. In a visionary and compassionate spirit, let us explore how Thích Nhất

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