On July 12, 2012, the United Nations General Assembly declared 20 March to be the International Day of Happiness. This is to recognize the significance of happiness and well-being as universal ideals that people all over the globe strive to and for their significant connection to public policy goals. Also, it acknowledges the need for a more inclusive and fair approach to economic growth that promotes sustainable development, eradication of poverty, and everyone’s well-being.

In the UAE, the National Program for Happiness and Wellbeing was reviewed on March 7, 2016 by H. H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

The program addresses three main areas:

1. Include happiness in all government policies, programs, and services.
2. Promote wellness and happiness as a lifestyle in the community.
3. Promote tools and benchmarks to measure happiness.

Recently, the World Happiness Report was published under the title “World Happiness, Trust and Social Connections in Times of Crisis”. In it, people from all around the world were polled for the three years spanning the COVID-19 pandemic period. The poll focused on three primary indicators: Life evaluations, positive emotions, and negative emotions.

Based on a three-year average of life evaluations, rankings of happiness were created. The study also took into account six key variables, such as gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and freedom from corruption. Out of the 137 countries measured, the top three Arab countries were the UAE at the 26^th place, Saudi Arabia at the 30^th and Bahrain who ranked 42^nd.