Civil Society, Development & Aid, Headlines, Human Rights, Latin America & the Caribbean, Population, Poverty & SDGs

BRAZIL: Strides and Continued Challenges for the Disabled

Mario Osava

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 23 2006 (IPS) - The first national conference for the disabled sponsored by the government in Brazil showed the strides made in the past few decades towards rights for the country’s 24.5 million people living with disabilities. But it also made it clear that solutions making life easier for this diverse group are far from evenly available, due to the poverty in which so many Brazilians are steeped.

“We no longer need new laws. Our struggle now is for the application and enforcement of the legislation passed in the last 20 years,” said Candida Carvalheira, coordinator of the First National Conference on the Rights of the Disabled, held in Brasilia May 12-15.

Brazil is, for instance, the only country in the world that fully recognises ostomates as disabled persons, Carvalheira, the president of the Brazilian Ostomy Association, told IPS.

Ostomy is a surgical procedure creating an opening (stoma) from an area inside the body to the outside, in the urinary or intestinal tracts (urostomy or colostomy) for the elimination of bodily wastes, or in the respiratory system (tracheostomy) for the passage of air

In other countries there are only declarations or partial recognition of the condition in relation to some activities, she said.

The demands, experience and current situation of the disabled, who make up 14.5 percent of Brazil’s population of 180 million, were discussed by participants in the conference, half of whom represented the government and the other half civil society.

The meeting was “a watershed” that established ” a new form of demanding rights” by the disabled movement, which previously limited its efforts to individual initiatives or specific associations, said Carvalheira, who added that it was “enriching” to debate the proposals with government representatives and with people who have years of experience working in the realm of disability rights.

A total of 264 proposals were approved at the conference. The ones that were defended most adamantly referred to accessible transport for those with mobility problems, like wheelchair users. Others involved communication initiatives targeting the hearing impaired, such as the use of captions and sign language on television, computer innovations, or incentives for companies that hire disabled persons.

The gathering, the first national conference of its kind, made possible a broad sharing of experiences and information on the diversity of needs and demands, said Amarildo Gomes, technical adviser to the Fundação Lar Escola Francisco de Paula, a municipal foundation in Rio de Janeiro.

In the country’s Amazon jungle region, local passenger transport craft on the rivers – the main means of transportation – as well as the ports must be adapted for the use of the disabled, Gomes told IPS.

He also explained that efforts are being made to expand the number of buses in Rio de Janeiro that have ramps for use by the disabled, from the current 14 to a total of 49. The accessible buses will circulate on fixed routes and schedules, to facilitate their use.

The problem of accessible transportation, which is faced by all cities, involves trains, the subway, planes, cars, buses and boats. In Brasilia, the capital, there is not one single bus adapted to special needs, said Gomes, who pointed out that buses had to be brought in from other cities for the conference.

The progress made towards social inclusion of the disabled has been uneven in Brazil, with the poorest areas – the northern Amazon jungle region and the semi-arid northeast – lagging, while cities like Curitiba, the capital of the southern state of Paraná, and Uberlandia in central Brazil stand out for their accessible transport systems, said Carvalheira.

Rio de Janeiro is also more advanced than most cities, since it was Brazil’s capital until 1960 and is the headquarters of most of the foundations and educational institutions that cater to the disabled, like the National Institute of Education for the Deaf, the Benjamin Constant Institute for the blind and large rehabilitation hospitals.

But it is generally easier for local and state governments to implement solutions in towns and smaller cities, due to the huge number of streets, sidewalks and buildings that must be modified in large cities to facilitate access for the disabled, said Gomes.

Meanwhile, older cities like Olinda in the northeast and Ouro Preto in central Brazil present the specific challenge of preserving the architectural patrimony while increasing accessibility.

The conference also incorporated smaller groups like albinos and little people, who have previously been excluded from such debates, said Gomes.

In addition, the meeting highlighted the challenges faced by people with ostomy, who number around 150,000 in Brazil and whose most pressing problem is discrimination, according to Carvalheira.

The high level of participation by people with physical and sensory disabilities contrasted with the small number of mentally disabled people taking part in the conference, an imbalance that is also seen in institutions that assist the disabled in the areas of education and employment.

The struggle for the rights of the disabled gained new legitimacy and visibility because the gathering was organised and sponsored by the government, and due to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s presence in the closing ceremony, concurred Carvalheira and Gomes.