Reflections on the UN’s World Happiness Report for Year-2021
The World Happiness Report for 2021 was released on March 20, which is the UN International Day of Happiness. In that Report, Tanzania was ranked 142nd out of 149 countries in the measure of happiness. Neighbouring Kenya and Uganda were at the 121st and 119th positions respectively. But what is the World Happiness Report? What is its significance, and what are some of the things that the report contains? And, more importantly: does it matter?
The Report is a publication of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Solutions Network. It came into existence in July 2011 when the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 65/309 on ‘Happiness: Towards a Holistic Definition of Development.’ Its motive was to invite UN member countries to consider subjective wellbeing of its people as an indicator of development - and the use of happiness data to guide public policy.
The first World Happiness Report was released on April 1, 2012, and has been issued every 20th of March since 2016, to coincide with the UN’s International Day of Happiness. The report contains rankings of national happiness, based on surveys, where respondents rate their own lives. The report is based on measures of factors such as social support, generosity, freedom to make life choices, corruption perception.
The report also looks at institutional trust, which includes confidence in the national government, the judicial system and courts, the honesty of elections, and confidence in the local police force.
Some of the questions asked in the surveys that inform the report include: have you donated money to a charity in the past month? Is corruption widespread throughout the government? Is corruption widespread within businesses? If you were in trouble, do you have relatives or friends you can count on to help you whenever you need them? Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with your freedom to choose what you do with your life?
Another measure that is taken is based on what is called a ‘life ladder’, which asks participants to imagine a ladder, with steps numbered from zero at the bottom to ten at the top. The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for the participant and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life. The participant is then asked to rate on which step of the ladder they personally feel they stand at that point of time.
As what may seem an extreme and bold example, the Kingdom of Bhutan, a country in the Eastern Himalayas adopted gross national happiness instead of gross domestic product as their main development indicator. This points to the proverbial dilemma between money and happiness, synonymous to the egg and chicken dilemma. What comes first? Happiness or money? Reports such as the World Happiness Report show that the happiness-money dilemma goes beyond the personal level to the national level. Can people fully engage in economic activities and spur economic growth of the country if they are not happy?
This year’s report comes at an interesting time in Tanzania where the social space is contemplating whether the country must shift from an apparently previous motto ‘Make Tanzania Great Again’ to ‘Make Tanzania Happy Again’. Considering that Tanzania is ranked in the bottom ten in terms of happiness, perhaps this shift in the motto is advisable.
As former Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete (2005-2015) said, ‘Akili za kuambiwa, changanya na zako.’ Clearly, the Report has a message for us. It is becoming a common discussion point among social groups. Indeed, happiness and wellbeing matter, and are climbing the ladder of priority in people’s everyday lives.
Therefore, the questions that must continue to be asked and explored by leaders of the country are: why is it so? What are some of the low-hanging fruits that can be plucked as a starting point to improve the subjective wellbeing of the people?
________________________________________________________________
Ms Kimaro writes about careers, leadership, personal development, and issues affecting youth and women
