Charity International, who recently switched name to Global Happiness Organization (GHO), is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of utilitarian ethics

Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism is an ethical theory holding that the proper course of action is the one that maximizes the overall "happiness", by whatever means necessary. It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined only by its resulting outcome, and that one can...

. It was founded in 2007 by a team of Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 academics

Academia

Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.-Etymology:The word comes from the akademeia in ancient Greece. Outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning...

, philosophers

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 and animal welfare

Animal welfare

Animal welfare is the physical and psychological well-being of animals.The term animal welfare can also mean human concern for animal welfare or a position in a debate on animal ethics and animal rights...

 activists led by Ludvig Lindström

Ludvig Lindström

Ludvig Andreas Lindström is a prominent and well known Swedish animal rights activist, and the founder and President of Charity International, the very first utilitarian organization in the world....

. The purpose of the organization is to increase net happiness

Happiness

Happiness is a mental state of well-being characterized by positive emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources....

 worldwide.

The organization functions in two ways. One part of its work involves informing the public of the latest scientific research on effective strategies to enhance personal happiness; how you can make other people happier; and how to avoid causing suffering to others, including non-human animals.

Secondly, Charity International tries to get a happiness agenda into mainstream politics. Its goal is to have politicians base their policy-making decisions on conclusions drawn from the latest scientific studies in order to create better conditions for a happier society and a happier world.

From 2007 onwards, Charity International has organized a Happiness Conference where the organization presents the latest happiness research, outlines its future agenda, and provides an arena for discussions both among its members and among international happiness researchers. Conference participants and speakers have included the Australian philosopher Peter Singer

Peter Singer

Peter Albert David Singer is an Australian philosopher who is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University and Laureate Professor at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne...

, the Dutch Happiness researcher Ruut Veenhoven and the British philosopher David Pearce

David Pearce (philosopher)

David Pearce is a British utilitarian thinker. He believes and promotes the idea that there exists a strong ethical imperative for humans to work towards the abolition of suffering in all sentient life. His book-length internet manifesto The Hedonistic Imperative details how he believes the...

.

Charity International's most recent conference was held in May 2009 at Malmö University.