UN News Centre: What is “gross national happiness”?

Prime Minister Jigmi Y. Thinley: Gross national happiness is the philosophy or development paradigm that has guided Bhutan’s development in a way that has been holistic and based on the belief that the aspiration, the ultimate goal of every human individual, is happiness, so then it must be the responsibility of the state, or the government, to create those conditions that will enable citizens to pursue this value, this goal.

UN News Centre: Do you consider happiness an inalienable human right?

Prime Minister Jigmi Y. Thinley: Yes, it is a fundamental need of the human individual and therefore, I think, certainly, an inalienable human right that must constitute the most important function and responsibility of any government and any leader