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Pharrell Williams joins UN to celebrate International Day of Happiness

Xinhua, March 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

Grammy-winning singer Pharrell Williams joined the United Nations to celebrate the International Day of Happiness on Friday, with an emphasis on reaching out to young people and pushing them to take action on climate change.

At a special event here marking the third annual observance of the Day with this year's theme on "Young People in Support of Climate Action," the 41-year-old singer shared his conception of happiness with over 1,000 audiences at the General Assembly Hall.

"It can be something as detailed as long-term goal or could be something as simple as the way I feel when my son smiles," Pharrell said, stressing that happiness is the birthright, which everybody should have access to.

On climate change, the singer-songwriter said, "We only have one home, ... if you don't take care of your home then you don't have a life."

For the second year in a row, the musician has also hosted a global online "Happy Party," where supporters can upload photos of themselves that will be turned into a massive composite GIF set to the tune of Pharrell's 2014 smash hit "Happy," which was first featured on Despicable Me 2.

Joined the event through a video message, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the pursuit of happiness is "serious business."

"Peace, prosperity, lives of dignity for all this is what we seek," Ban said. "We want all men, women and children to enjoy all their human rights. We want all countries to know the pleasure of peace."

"We want people and planet alike to be blessed with sustainable development, and to be spared the catastrophic impacts of climate change," he said.

In April 2012, the UN held a high-level meeting on "Happiness and Well-Being: Defining a New Economic Paradigm" at the initiative of Bhutan, a country which recognized the supremacy of national happiness over national income since the early 1970s and famously adopted the goal of Gross National Happiness over Gross National Product.

In June of that year, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming March 20 the International Day of Happiness to recognize the relevance of happiness and well-being as universal goals and aspirations in people's lives and the importance of their recognition in public policy objectives. Endite