The Paralympics and social change

The huge beach volleyball arena that was at the center of the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games is getting smaller by the day as the temporary facility is being rapidly dismantled. Further south on the promenade the Olympic "Megastore" remains open but the shop clerks are pretty much on their own. Outside, life is back to normal, with teenagers using sticks to mark football pitches on the beach or hanging up volleyball nets. Joggers run back and forth along the beach.

The Paralympics are about to break new ground. The event has been held five times in North America, but when the 4,300 athletes from more than 170 countries begin competition on Thursday, it will mark the first time that the Paralympics have been held in South America.

Organizers regard the fact that Rio is hosting the Paralympics as a sign of progress, particularly for the nearly 30 million physically challenged people in Brazil.

The situation for the disabled in Brazil is mixed. On the positive side, Brazil's 1988 constitution designates two official languages for the country: Portuguese and Brazilian Sign Language, also known as "Libras." Brazil was also among the first signatories of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and many of its provisions were passed in Brazlian legislation last year. These include things like the right to barrier-free accessibility, disabled quotas in the labor market and the right of access to guide dogs.

This all looks good on paper, but as Wenzel Michalski, the Germany director of Human Rights Watch pointed out: "In the favelas (urban slums) millions of people of can only dream of accessibility."

Buses and trains modernized

For disabled people in the slums, education, medicine or good wheelchairs are often unattainable One study found that 80 percent of people with disabilities in Brazil felt that they weren't duly respected. And that number could grow as inequality in Brazilian society as a whole is on the rise.

"We want the Paralympics to be a turning point," Andrew Parsons said. The former journalist has been president of Brazil's Paralympic Committee since 2009."For us, this is a revolution," he added.

Parsons points to a number of developments in the urban landscape of Rio which stand to benefit future tourists with disabilities and elderly people who use walking aids. Many hotels and museums have been barrier-free for some time and around two-thirds of the buses in Rio are wheelchair accessible.

The most lucrative sponsoring deal

In the world of disabled sports, the Brazilians are on the rise. The country's Paralympic Committee was given official status by the government in 1998 and in 2001 it began receiving funding from the state lottery. Brazilian television has broadcast the Paralympics since 2004. After finishing 14th in the medals table at the 2004 Games in Athens, Brazil improved to ninth in Beijing in 2008, and seventh in London four years later. The Brazilians also have the most lucrative sponsorship deal of any Paralympic Committee in the world, with the government-owned bank Caixa paying it 8 million euros ($8.9 million) annually.

Proponents of the Paralympics always tend to promote them as something that can provide impetus for improving conditions for the physically challenged in the host nation. After the Sydney Games in 2000, the Australian government amended building standards to improve accessibility, but funding for sports reduced. In Athens, visitors still benefit from the infrastructure built for the Games, but the disabled sports continue to struggle. In Sochi the facilities created for the 2014 Winter Games were excellent, but these have been rarely used ever since.

The need to exchange information

Then there were the 2008 Games in Beijing.

"I keep hearing that people with disabilities in China are more visible than they were in the past," said German former biathlete and 12-time Paralympics medalist Verena Bentele. "But it would be good to document this development in more detail. There needs to be an ongoing exchange of information between sports federations and host cities. This would benefit future hosts." Bentele, who was appointed as the German government's commissioner for matters relating to disabled persons, added.

Brazil still has a long way to go. Some question the the high cost of hosting the Paralympics while disabled people in the favelas have a major problem leaving their homes.

However, Andrew Parsons points to the benefits of the construction of a new disabled center in Sao Paulo capable of hosting 15 different sports and which can also be used in for the rehabilitation of accident victims.

"We want to open this center for athletes from other countries in Latin America," Parsons said. His committee is organizing one of the largest student competitions in the world. In recent months, dozens of sports teachers have received training in how to deal with athletes with disabilities. These are measures that probably wouldn't have been taken without the Paralympics.