Gross National Happiness

Happiness is more important than wealth. This is the official policy in Bhutan, where King Jigme Singye Wangchuck prefers to speak of Gross National Happiness, rather than Gross National Product, setting the theme for careful development and gradual change.

Hidden in the folds of the great Himalayas, landlocked Bhutan borders the Tibetan region of China in the north and India in the south. Its 650,000 people (government estimates) are largely subsistence farmers living in small villages sparsely scattered over 40,000 square kilometres of rugged mountain slopes.

Emerging from self-imposed isolation, Bhutan began in 1961 to build its basic infrastructure and services, establishing roads, schools, hospitals, and a power grid that tapped the hydro-electric potential of its rapid rivers and streams. By the mid-1990s, an efficient telecommunications system covered most of its inhabited valleys.

India, still the kingdom's largest development partner, funded the first two Development Plans. In 1971, Bhutan became a member of the United Nations and began cooperation with a number of UN and other international agencies. Bhutan ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child on 30 May 1990 and the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women on 31 August 1981. Although the past four decades have seen fast development, Bhutan has preserved its ancient traditions and its distinct way of life. It protects and preserves its pristine natural environment, religious heritage, and cultural identity by developing at a "manageable" pace, emphasizing sustainability and self-reliance.

The Bhutanese people, mostly Buddhists, believe happiness lies in the Middle Path, balancing between tradition and modernization. All aspects of development reflect this -- preserving the country's historical monasteries and temples, controlling tourism, and enforcing environmental laws...

Transforming from a mediæval land of scattered villages into a modern state, Bhutan saw local chieftains unified in the 17th century into a Buddhist nation, followed by a dual system of governance that culminated, in 1907, in a hereditary monarchy.

King Jigme Singye Wangchuck has initiated a new era by decentralizing his authority. During a 1998 National Assembly session, he devolved powers to an elected Cabinet, spurring rapid change towards greater accountability and transparency. The Government is extending decentralization in introducing development planning at the geog (sub-district) level in the kingdom's ninth five-year plan starting in 2002.

Bhutan will, however, always face the challenges that confront all small developing countries. Having survived formidable challenges throughout its history as a buffer between the two most populous nations in the world, it continues to grapple with change.

Today it struggles to control large scale immigration across its open border with India that threatens its ethnic balance. The fast-moving information age and rapid changes in communications technology present yet another challenge to a people whose strength lies in tradition.

Bhutan struggles to maintain a delicate balance, to fulfil its people's basic needs without losing its rich human heritage and real human values. Its endeavour deserves support, as an example to both industrialized and developing countries of development on a sustainable, human pace and scale.