29 Mar 2012

UN / BHUTAN HAPPINESS WRAP

Prime Minister of Bhutan Jigme Thinley said today that due to the growing frequency of natural and man made calamities, the world is now “more amenable” to the concept of Gross National Happiness, an indicator that measures quality of life as opposed to economic activity to determine a nation’s well-being. UNTV

Posted at: March 29, 2012 5:28 pm

Duration: 02:57

Available in: SD

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STORY: UN / BHUTAN HAPPINESS WRAP
TRT: 2.57
SOURCE: UNTV 
RESTRICTIONS: NONE  
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 29 MARCH 2012, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

29 MARCH 2012, NEW YORK CITY

2. Med shot, dais
3. Med shot, journalist
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Jigme Thinley, Prime Minister, Bhutan:
"We will be discussing during the course of the Monday meeting on how and in what manner we might make our input to the Rio+20. But as you may already have read in the documents that we have circulated, there is a heavy emphasis on sustainability with respect to this new economic development paradigm. In fact, it is a sustainability-based economic paradigm aimed at achieving or enhancing human well-being and happiness."
5. Med shot, journalist
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Jigme Thinley, Prime Minister, Bhutan:
"Human society in general is now far more amenable to the testing and consideration of such an idea than it might have been even 10 years ago. And this is because of the growing frequency and magnitude of calamities that are striking human society all across the globe, and these are in terms of natural as well as man-made catastrophes."
7. Med shot, audience
8. Med shot, Thinley and interviewer
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Jigme Thinley, Prime Minister of Bhutan:
"Gross National Happiness is the philosophy or the development paradigm that has guided Bhutan's development in a way that has been holistic. And it is based on the belief that the aspiration, the ultimate goal of every human individual, is happiness. And if that be, so then it must be the responsibility of the State, of the Government to create those conditions that will enable the citizens to pursue this value, this goal."
 
FILE – RECENT, BHUTAN

10. Various shots, Bhutanese people going about their daily activities

28 MARCH 2012, NEW YORK CITY

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Jigme Thinley, Prime Minister of Bhutan:
"The unfortunate goal has been that the belief that economic growth, material prosperity and accumulation of wealth will lead to happiness. And the sad outcome has been the mistaking of the means for the end itself."

FILE – RECENT, BHUTAN

12. Various shots, people crossing a pedestrian bridge

STORYLINE:

The Prime Minister of Bhutan Jigme Thinley gave a press briefing today (29 March) in New York to announce that on Monday he will meet with representatives of United Nations (UN) member states, economists, scholars, spiritual leaders and members of the media, to discuss new ways to measure development and national prosperity that incorporate happiness, well-being and environmental sustainability.

Thinley said that among other topics, they will discuss what kind of input can be offered ahead of the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June.

He stressed that the new economic development paradigm being proposed is "sustainability-based" and aimed at "achieving or enhancing human well-being and happiness."

The Prime Minister stated that due to the "growing frequency and magnitude" of natural and man-made calamities, the world is now "more amenable" to the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH), an indicator that measures quality of life as opposed to economic activity to determine a nation's value.

At a later interview with UN Television, Thinley explained that the GNH is "the philosophy or the development paradigm that has guided Bhutan's development in a way that has been holistic."

He said that this paradigm is based "on the belief that the aspiration, the ultimate goal of every human individual, is happiness" and therefore "it must be the responsibility of the State, of the Government to create those conditions that will enable the citizens to pursue this value, this goal."

Thinley, who is Bhutan's first-ever democratically elected prime minister, said that "the belief that economic growth, material prosperity and accumulation of wealth will lead to happiness" has brought on "the sad outcome" of societies "mistaking… the means for the end itself."

Bhutan, which remained isolated from the rest of the world until 1974 and remains one of the world's poorest nations, uses a "Gross National Happiness" index to measure its economic development.