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› Secretary of the Gross National Happiness Comission (Bhutan) visited Costa Rica
2010-06-01
The secretary of the Gross National Happiness (GNH) Comission of Bhutan, Mr. Karma Tshiteemm, held a conference on May 29th 2010, about the GNH index, which is focused on the measurement of the quality of life in an innovative and holistic vision.
The conference was held in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Costa Rica; as part of the inauguration of the open doors politic, lead by the Minister René Castro.
Mr. Castro remarked that the visit of the Minister of Bhutan is an example of the South-South Cooperation, since that Costa Ricans and Bhutanese have been working on reciprocal projects on sustainable tourism, sustainable chains of production and consumption, sustainable use of biodiversity, access to sustainable energy and gender equity.
The experience developed by Bhutan is a motivation to change the life standards, since the indicators designed give more importance to the use of time, community relationships, family, spirituality and the relationship with God.
The GNH includes 9 variables and 72 indicators, related to use of time, spirituality, culture, health, education, environmental diversity, vitality and governing.
Marianella Feoli, General Manager of Fundecooperación, remarked that through the Programme for the South-South Cooperation, it has been demonstrated that it is possible to work in common projects that contribute to solve environmental, social and economic issues. There are 32 projects that are being executed successfully.
The web site of the GNH is www.grossnationalhappiness.com.
