The 19th Workshop

May 26, 2016
"The 2016 Rio Paralympic Games and Inclusion Policies for People with Disabilities in Brazil"

The Rio Paralympic Games, organized by the same body as the 2016 Rio Olympics, will be an opportunity for integrating into a society with a total population of approximately 200 million, a population of approximately 20 million people with disabilities. It will be an event promoting the integration of people with disabilities through initiatives such as increasing Brazilians' sense of pride, a three-dimensional event logo, securing a high employment rate of people with disabilities at event headquarters (about 7%), and implementing inclusive education. 

The establishment of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (BPC) in 1995 has been a contributing factor in raising the ranking of the Brazilian national team. From 37th in the 1992 Barcelona Games, the national team has improved its ranking with each Paralympic Games, demonstrating the effect of the BPC: 32nd in the Atlanta Games, 24th in the Sydney Games, 14th in the Athens Games, 9th in the Beijing Games, and 7th in the London Games. 

Policies for social inclusion and people with disabilities in Brazil have been promoted mainly by Article 203 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Brazil, which was enacted in 1988. In 2007, Brazil ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and by enacting it through the constitution, relevant domestic laws are equal in standard with the constitution. The Brazilian National Plan for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, "Viver Sem Limite" (Living Without Limits), enacted in 2011, includes four axes - education, health support, social integration and accessibility - and has contributed to strengthening further the inclusion of people with disabilities into society. 

In sports, individuals and society become one, and have the power to bring unity where there are cultural and moral divisions. In this sense, Para sports act as a tool of integration for people, irrespective of the disability they have. We would like to share the legacy of Rio with Tokyo. Through the sportsmanship of the Paralympic Games, we want to show that it is possible to overcome obstacles and achieve social inclusion with authority and dignity.