The World Happiness Report is a study carried out every year by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Solutions Network. This year marks the ninth edition of the report, in which the organisation examines data relating to population well-being in 149 countries, and then drafts a global ranking based on the happiness of each country’s citizens.
The 10 happiest countries in the world are all in Northern Europe, with the only exception of New Zealand. This result is due to people's trust in their communities and institutions: the security that comes with having someone to count on help many people to manage the stress and negative feelings caused by the health crisis we are facing and the isolation it has generated. Other factors that have ensured a better response to the pandemic among the population are smaller income inequality and a bottom-up approach, where citizens are better able to accept the measures imposed by their governments. Other factors are gender equality and women’s rights, education, safety, life expectancy and health, per capita income, social security and workers' rights, level of perceived corruption, sense of freedom and civil rights, excellent social services, generosity.
The pandemic is a reminder of all environmental threats affecting us, the urgent need to work together and the difficulty to achieve such cooperation in individual countries and globally. The World Happiness Report 2021 reminds us that we need to work to achieve well-being, not mere wealth, which is bound to be uncertain if we do not improve how we raise to the challenge of sustainable development.
It was very hard this year, but data show significant signs of resilience. We can’t give up now, and we need to keep holding on to those small things that we used to take for granted, having finally realised how happy they make us.
We can be happy without harming the planet. In fact, only by loving it will we truly feel loved. (source: lifegate.com)
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