Have you joined the movement for a happier world?

Since 2013, each year on 20 March, the United Nations (UN) celebrates the International Day of Happiness as a way of recognising the importance of happiness in the lives of people around the world. 

Date 2017-03-20 Author BIK Team Section awareness

Founded in 2012, the United Nations created the International Day of Happiness through adopting UN Resolution 66/281 in order to achieve two goals:

  1. To establish a set of principles for addressing the complex, interrelated challenges faced by humankind in the ultimate quest to achieve happiness.
  2. To promote, preserve and celebrate the principles outlined in UN Resolutions 65/309 and 66/281, especially that happiness is a universal human right and goal.

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 wellbeing and happiness. For the 2017 edition of the International Day of Happiness, UN will be disseminating information about events and campaigns that have been registered through its designated website to spread happiness and celebrate the day. Additional UN resources and reports supporting the international day of celebration can be found here.

Back in 2016, the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) team published an article to mark the International Day of Happiness with a brief overview of activities tackling the wellbeing of internet users, especially when thinking of children and young people. Since the 2016 celebration, the Insafe network of Safer Internet Centres (SICs) in Europe has been very active in engaging with awareness-raising activities and resources for the wellbeing and happiness of online users, from children and young people to teachers, parents and careers. Examples include:

Furthermore, on an ongoing basis, SICs provide further assistance to children and young people whenever they encounter issues online through the work of a network of helplines.

For more resources aiming to support online wellbeing and happiness for youth, parents, carers or teachers, see the Better Internet for Kids Resource gallery.

The UN message for the 2017 International Day of Happiness is to choose happiness and share your happiness also by using hashtags #SmallSmurfsBigGoals, #internationaldayofhappiness, #happinessday, #choosehappiness, #createhappiness or #makeithappy. For this day of celebration, we encourage you to include @safeinternetday, @Paneuyouth, @insafenetwork or @BIK_EU in any happy online moments that you want to share for the benefit of a better internet for children and young people.

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