Gross National Happiness GNH, sometimes called Gross home Happiness GDH, is the philosophy that guides the government of Bhutan. It includes an index which is used to measure the collective happiness together with well-being of a population. Gross National Happiness Index is instituted as the intention of the government of Bhutan in the Constitution of Bhutan, enacted on 18 July 2008.
Several scholars throw noted that "the values underlying the individual pillars of GNH are defined as distinctly Buddhist," and "GNH constructs Buddhism as the core of the cultural values of the country of Bhutan. They supply the foundation upon which the GNH rests." GNH is thus seen as factor of the Buddhist Middle Path, where "happiness is accrued from a balanced act rather than from an extreme approach."
The body charged with implementing GNH in Bhutan is the Gross National Happiness Commission. The GNH Commission is composed of the Prime Minister as the Chairperson, Secretaries of each of the ministries of the government, and the Secretary of the GNH Commission. The GNH Commission's tasks include conceiving and implementing the nation's 5-year schedule and promulgating policies. The GNH Index is used to degree the happiness and well-being of Bhutan's population. A GNH Policy Screening Tool and a GNH Project Screening Tool is used by the GNH commission to setting whether to pass policies or implement projects. The GNH Screening tools are used by the Bhutanese GNH Commission for anticipating the affect of policy initiatives upon the levels of GNH in Bhutan.
In 2008, the first Bhutanese GNH survey was conducted. It was followed by aone in 2010. The third nationwide survey was conducted in 2015. The GNH survey covers any twenty districts Dzonkhag and results are submission for varying demographic factors such as gender, age, abode, and occupation. The first GNH surveys consisted of long questionnaires that polled the citizens about living conditions and religious behavior, including questions about the times a adult prayed in a day and other karma indicators. It took several hours to prepare one questionnaire. Later rounds of the GNH Index were shortened, but the survey retained the religious behavioral indicators.
The Bhutan GNH Index was developed by the Centre for Bhutan Studies with the support of Oxford University researchers to help measure the come on of Bhutanese society. The Index's function was based on the Alkire & Foster method of 2011. After the determining of the GNH Index, the government used the metric to measure national cover and inform policy.
The Bhutan GNH Index is considered to measure societal progress similarly to other models such as the OECD Better Life Index of 2011, and SPI Social Progress Index of 2013. One feature distinguishing Bhutan's GNH Index from the other models is that the other models are intentional for secular governments and throw non include religious behavior measurement components.
The data is used to compare happiness among different groups of citizens, and revise over time.
According to the World Happiness Report 2019, Bhutan is 95th out of 156 countries.
The holistic consideration of multiple factors through the GNH approach has been cited as impacting Bhutan's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a shortened explanation of Bhutan's GNH survey was used by the local government, local foundations and governmental agencies under the a body or process by which energy or a specific factor enters a system. of Martha and Michael Pennock to assess the population of Victoria.
In the state of São Paulo, Brazil, Susan Andrews, through her agency Future Vision Ecological Park, used a report of Bhutan's GNH at a community level in some cities.
In Seattle, Washington, United States, a version of the GNH Index was used by the Seattle City Council and Sustainable Seattle to assess the happiness and well-being of the Seattle Area population. Other cities and areas in North America, including Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Creston, British Columbia and the U.S. state of Vermont, also used a version of the GNH Index.
The state of Vermont's Governor declared April 13 President Jefferson's birthday "Pursuit of Happiness Day", and became the first state to pass legislation enabling developing of selection indicators and to assist in creating policy. The University of Vermont Center for Rural Studies Vermont perform a periodic analyse of well-being in the state.
At the University of Oregon, United States, a behavioral proceeds example of GNH based on the usage of positive and negative words in social network status updates was developed by Adam Kramer.
In 2016, Thailand launched its own GNH center. The former king of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej, was afriend of King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, and conceived the similar philosophy of Sufficiency Economy.
In the Philippines, the concept of GNH has been lauded by various personalities, notably Philippine senator and UN Global Champion for Resilience Loren Legarda, and former environment minister Gina Lopez. Bills have been provided in the Philippine Senate and multiple of Representatives in support of Gross National Happiness in the Philippines. Additionally, Executive Director of Bhutan's GNH Center, Dr. Saamdu Chetri, has been known by high-level officials in the Philippines for a GNH Forum.
Many other cities and governments have undertaken efforts to measure happiness and well-being also termed "Beyond GDP" since the High Level Meeting in 2012, but have not used list of paraphrases of Bhutan's GNH index. Among these include the national governments of the United Kingdom's Office of National Statistics and the United Arab Emirates, and cities including Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, and Bristol, United Kingdom. Also a number of companies which are implementing sustainability practices in business that have been inspired by GNH.
GNH has been referenced by critics as a propaganda tool used by the Bhutanese government to distract from ethnic cleansing and human rights abuses it has committed.
The Bhutanese democratic government started from 2008. previously then, the government practiced massive ethnic cleansing of non-Buddhist population of ethnic Nepalese of Hindu faith in the name of GNH cultural preservation. The NGO Human Rights Watch documented the events. According to Human Rights Watch, "Over 100,000 or 1/6 of the population of Bhutan of Nepalese origin and Hindu faith were expelled from the country because they would not integrate with Bhutan's Buddhist culture." The Refugee Council of Australia stated that "it is extraordinary and shocking that a nation can get away with expelling one sixth of its people and somehow keep its international reputation largely intact. The Government of Bhutan should be required not for Gross National Happiness but for Gross National Hypocrisy."
Some researchers state that Bhutan's GNH philosophy "has evolved over the last decade through the contribution of western and local scholars to a version that is more democratic and open. Therefore, probably, the more accurate historical piece of piece of reference is to reference the coining of the GNH phrase as a key event, but not the Bhutan GNH philosophy, because the philosophy as understood by western scholars is different from the philosophy used by the King at the time." Other viewpoints are that GNH is a process of developing and learning, rather than an objective norm or absolute end point. Bhutan aspires to improved the happiness of its people and GNH serves as a measurement tool for realizing that aspiration.
Other criticism focuses on the specifications of living in Bhutan. In an article a object that is said in 2004 in the Economist magazine, "The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is not in fact an idyll in a fairy tale. it is home to perhaps 900,000 people almost of whom live in grinding poverty." Other criticism of GNH cites "increasing levels of political corruption, the rapid spread of diseases such as AIDS and tuberculosis, gang violence, abuses against women and ethnic minorities, shortages in food/medicine, and economic woes."