The General Assembly, by its resolution A/RES/66/281, has proclaimed 20 March as the International Day of Happiness. The resolution recognizes the relevance of happiness and well-being as universal goals ... and the importance of their recognition in public policy objectives; and the need for a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to economic growth that promotes sustainable development, poverty eradication, happiness and the well-being of all peoples.
The adoption of the resolution followed a high-level meeting on Well-being and happiness, held at UN Headquarters on 2 April 2012. The main sponsor of the high-level meeting was the Kingdom of Bhutan. The meeting concluded that, while material prosperity is important, it is far from being the only determinant of well-being.
On the occasion of the first International Day of Happiness, the United Nations Academic Impact, in association with the Permanent Mission of Bhutan, will host a conversation on Happiness and well-being: Essential for a sustainable future on 20 March 2013, from 1:15 – 2:30 at UN Headquarters. Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, Under-Secretary- General for Communications and Public Information, will introduce the theme of the day's conversation. He will be joined by the following special guests:
- Ambassador Lhatu Wangchuk, Permanent Representative of Bhutan to the United Nations
- Ambassador Dr. Hamid Al-Bayati, Permanent Representative ofIraq to the United Nations
- Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury, former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations
- Dr. Judy Kuriansky, Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology,Columbia University Teachers College
- Dr. Jo Anne Murphy, Office of Global Learning,Fairleigh Dickinson University
- Latoya Ferns, Student, Durham University,UK,/Producer, Broken Happy Record
Members of the United Nations Staff Recreation Council Jazz Society will provide musical prelude.
The event is open to all. However, to attend, one needs to register by sending an email to academicimpact@un.org (subject: IDH). The event will also be available live on the web at webtv.un.org
Happiness Day flyer 23 Feb International Student Design Competition |international-student-design-competition|Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:56:53 +0000|Events,Home Page,News,What's happening|en|International Council for Caring Communities (ICCC), in cooperation with the United Nations Programme for Human Settlements (UN-HABITAT) and United Nations Ageing Unit, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), Fortune Global Holding, Ltd, and other partners, is inviting architecture students around the world to apply their creative talents in developing solutions, which integrate older persons into the fabric of the community and fully include them in all social, cultural, and productive activities. All submissions must be the work of an individual or team of students. An affidavit of authorship is a mandatory component of submissions.
Deadlines: To enter the competition, an individual or teams of students must electronically register on the www.international-iccc.org entry form. The entries are due on or before 15 September 2013 and projects must be postmarked by 31 December 2013.
Award: Finalists will be invited to present their projects at the UN Commission for Social Development, February 2014 at United Nations Headquarters. Competition is organized in support of Habitat III, Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Habitat Agenda, and the post-2015 Development Agenda. Exhibitions will follow in China and Brazil and other UN regional and world venues. Winners will receive: First Prize US $10,000; Second Prize US $5,000, Third Prize US $2,500. At the discretion of the jury there can also be Honorable Mentions. All project submissions will be recognized with a certificate acknowledging participation.
For additional and to register electronically, please visit www.international-iccc.orgChuo University to host symposium on water environment, 22 March |chuo-university-to-host-symposium-on-water-environment-22-march|Mon, 11 Mar 2013 15:21:10 +0000|Events,Home Page,News,What's happening|en|In observance of World Water Day on 22 March, declared by the United Nations General Assembly to draw the world's attention to water-related problems, Chuo University,Tokyo, will hold an international symposium on water environment and its sustainability on 22 March 2013 at its Kourakuen Campus in the Faculty of Science and Engineering.
In the symposium, the following experiences will be widely shared through discussions and dialogues:
1. The experiences of researches on water-related problems in East Asia and Pan-pacific areas.
2. The experiences and efforts of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami prevention and reconstruction inJapan.
Find more at http://global.chuo-u.ac.jp/english/news/events/2013/03/12/5512
Or contact:
Professor Tadashi Yamada, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, 1-13-27, Kasuga, Bunkyo-ku, 1128551, Tokyo, Japan, Tel: +81-3-3817-1805, E-mail: yamada@civil.chuo-u.ac.jp
Governance Report 2013 launched at United Nations|governance-report-2013-launched-at-united-nations|Mon, 11 Mar 2013 18:50:11 +0000|Events,Home Page,News,What's happening|en|On 5 March 2013, the United Nations Academic Impact, in association with with the Hertie School of Governance, formally launched the Governance Report 2013, prepared by a team of experts associated with the Hertie School of Governance, Berlin, Germany.
The discussion forum brought together policy-makers, international experts and members of the academia, who revisited some of the questions related to governance in an interactive conversation among themselves and with the audience. The conversation was addressed, among others, by Helmut K Anheier, Dean of the Hertie School of Governance, Inge Kaul, Adjunct Faculty Member at the Hertie School of Governance, and former Director of the Office of Development Studies, UNDP, Jason E. Lane, Assistant Professor, UNAI observes International Day of Happiness, 20 March 2013|unai-observes-international-day-of-happiness-20-march-2013|Thu, 28 Mar 2013 14:01:44 +0000|Events,Home Page,News|en|Speakers attending a lunch-time conversation on happiness and well-being, essential for sustainable future, organized on 20 March at UN Headquarters, stressed that social, economic and environmental well-being were indivisible. Any conversation on happiness must include inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to economic growth that promoted sustainable development, poverty eradication, happiness and the well-being of all peoples, they said.
The conversation, organized by the United Nations Academic Impact, in association with the Permanent Mission of Bhutan to the United Nations, marked the first ever observance of International Day of Happiness. The General Assembly, which in resolution 66/281 established the day, recognizes the relevance of happiness and wellbeing as universal goals.
The Secretary-General, in his message for the Day, noted that the pursuit of happiness lay at the core of human endeavours. People around the world aspired to lead happy and fulfilling lives free from fear and want, and in harmony with nature. Yet, basic material well-being is still elusive for far too many living in extreme poverty. For many more, recurring socio-economic crises, violence and crime, environmental degradation and increasing threats of climate change are an ever-present threat, he said.
The Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, who was the keynote speaker, stressed that there was growing consensus on the possibility of meaningful joint action to achieve our basic human needs, such as fighting poverty, promoting health and well-being, safeguarding human rights, and protecting the environment, Taken together, he said, they constituted the global map of human happiness. In a sense, the United Nations was created as our collective tool to help create such a human happiness map, he observed.
The meeting was also addressed by Ambassador Lhatu Wangchuk, Permanent Representative of Bhutan to the United Nations; Ambassador Dr. Hamid Al-Bayati, Permanent Representative of Iraq to the United Nations; Anwarul Karim Chowdhury, former United Nations Under-Secretary-General; Dr. Judy Kuriansky, Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, Columbia University Teachers College; Dr. Jo Anne Murphy, Office of Global Learning, Fairleigh Dickinson University; and Latoya Ferns, Student, Durham University, UK
The event also included a musical performance by UNSRC Jazz Society.
Classroom Conversation on the role of Arab women, 15 April 2013|classroom-conversation-on-the-role-of-arab-women-15-april-2013|Tue, 09 Apr 2013 17:18:56 +0000|Events,Featured News,Home Page,News,What's happening|en|Change is coming to the Middle East---and more often than not, it is being led by women. In her book, Paradise Beneath Her Feet, Isobel Coleman shows how women and men across West Asia andNorth Africa are working, within their beliefs and faith, to enhance women's rights in a growing movement of a distinctive feminism. In the phrase of Egyptian poet Hafez Ibrahim, a mother is a school. Empower her, and you empower a great nation.
On 15 April 2013, the United Nations Academic Impact will organzie a conversation on the role and status of women in the Middle East in the wake of the Arab reawakening still reverberating throughout West Asia and North Africa. Dr. Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow, The Council on Foreign Relations, Director of the Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative, author of Paradise beneath her feet, and Dr, Azza Karam, senior Adviser, UNFAP, will lead the conversation. The meeting will take place in Conference Room 6, from 1:15 - 2:30 pm.
Students from educational institutions in the New York area, as well international interns at United Nations Secretariat will attend. The event will be webcast live and can be seen at webtv.un.org
On-line viewers will be able to share comments and questions by sending an e-mail to Guardian International Development Journalism Competition 2013 |guardian_competition|Tue, 16 Apr 2013 20:27:39 +0000|Home Page,News,What's happening|en|
Are you an aspiring or freelance journalist? Take a look at this new competition from the Guardian. It is a great opportunity to win an international assignment to Africa, Asia or South America to write for the Guardian about some of the most pressing development issues in the world. For more information and how to enter the competition, visit the
The Higher Education Alliance of the Humpty Dumpty Institute, a UNAI member, will organize a week-long immersion study program from 9 – 15 June on the United Nations for advanced undergraduate and graduate students. The Session will begin at UN Headquarters in New York, where students will explore, examine and experience the inner workings of the UN firsthand, and attend a series of seminars and lectures led by UN officials, diplomats, leading experts, policymakers and practitioners currently working with the UN to solve global problems.
The Session will then move to Washington, D.C, where students will attend meetings and briefings with senior officials of the US Department of State, Congressional staff, the UN Information Center, and representatives of various think tanks, and nongovernmental organizations.
Students will also meet with members of the security and intelligence communities on a wide range of global issues. To register, please visit the Humpty Dumpty Institute's website. Dance the Dream - how can you participate?|dance-the-dream-how-can-you-participate|Fri, 26 Apr 2013 18:30:25 +0000|Home Page,News,What's happening|en|
UN Academic Impact is pleased to partner with
World Press Freedom Day 2013|world-press-freedom-day-2013|Thu, 02 May 2013 19:25:53 +0000|Home Page,News,Uncategorized,What's happening|en|Every year, May 3rd is a date which celebrates the fundamental principles of press freedom. It is a day to also evaluate press freedom around the world, to defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession.
World Press Freedom Day As Robert A. Scott, the President of Adelphi University (a UN Academic Impact Member) commented in a recent article,
Universities are teachers, models, and partners in economic and community development. We use our intellectual, cultural, and capital assets to prepare professionals, managers, and artists; to contribute to the quality of life that attracts and sustains businesses; and to create jobs and wealth. This is community development, university style, the planner's dream partner.
Find out more about the role of universities in community development in the full text of President Scott's article in the Garden City News article 'Community Development, University Style'.