The United Arab Emirates minister of state for happiness and wellbeing recently launched a national programme for happiness and positivity. This included training for 60 chief happiness and positivity officers to understand “the science of happiness”, the happiness and positivity heroes medal and the Centre for Happiness Research (the first of its kind in the Middle East). This year the government also announced that, for the fourth year running, the UAE has come top among Arab nations in the UN World Happiness Report. The happiness minister was happy to emphasise that the nationwide cheerfulness programme “will include Emiratis as well as expatriate residents and visitors”. The UAE’s state-run happiness project did not extend to Matthew Hedges.

Source: The Times November 23, 2018 17:03 UTC