HÀ NỘI – The capital city organises a series of activities to celebrate the 11th anniversary of the International Day of Happiness (March 20) in Việt Nam.

HAPPY RUNNING:  The joy of families participating in the running track named "Family Ekiden Run" at the finish line. VNS/VNA Photo Thành Đạt

Hà Nội Department of Culture and Sports organised a conference to talk about "Hồ Chí Minh's thoughts on happiness" and introduce books exhibition with the theme "Happiness for everyone", displaying more than 300 documents, books and newspapers about the International Day of Happiness.

The exhibition booths had three main topics, the history, significance of International Day of Happiness and activities of Việt Nam on the day, the Party's views, the State's policies and laws on social security and building prosperous and happy families and the elegance and happiness of Hà Nội's citizens.

Trần Thị Vân Anh, the Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports, said: "For the International Day of Happiness to have a noble significance, with the message of International Day of Happiness 2024 "Happiness for everyone" let us join hands to inherit and promote the good traditional cultural values, kindness, and filial piety of the nation, of Thăng Long's thousand years of civilization.

"The capital city aims to preserve the beauty of culture in the family, build happy civilized families, happy communities, happy societies. The city also strongly promotes revolutionary traditions, thousands of years of civilisation and heroes friendship, proactive and creative spirit, self-reliance and aspiration for advancement."

Hà Nội also implements a set of behavioural criteria in the family, sets an example of good people - good deeds, and build and replicate typical cultural models, including happy families, cultural villages and cultural communities.

Since 2014, Việt Nam has officially hosted events celebrating the International Day of Happiness on March 20 with the theme "Love and Sharing". Activities organised in the International Day of Happiness in Việt Nam aim to express the nation's beliefs and determination for a world of peace, no war, no more poverty, a world of prosperous and sustainable development.

The Happiness Day initiative came from Bhutan – a small country located in South Asia whose citizens are considered to be some of the happiest people in the world. The day was officially recognised by United Nations in 2012. 

This year, in the World Happiness Report 2024 released on March 20, Việt Nam has risen to 54th out of 143 countries and territories, and sixth in Asia, after Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines. 

People from 143 countries and territories were polled for the research, and their happiness was ranked from 2021 to 2023 using a three-year average of each population's evaluation of their quality of life.

Finland ranks first for the seventh successive year. – VNS