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Latest News
  • [ January 13, 2026 ] 10 Years Since the Rio Olympics: Vila Autódromo Continues to Resist Gentrification Pressures Amidst New ‘Olympic Barra’ Neighborhood #EvictionsWatch
  • [ January 8, 2026 ] COP30 Civil Society Rundown: Thousands of Communities and Social Movements, Representing Favelas, Indigenous, Quilombola and Other Marginalized Groups Fill Belém During COP30 [IMAGES] *Highlight
  • [ December 31, 2025 ] ‘What We Want Aren’t Bodies on the Ground… It’s Recognition of [Our] People Creating Solutions’: Penha Favelas Hold Composters and Integrated Health Events Highlighting Local Climate Memories *Highlight
  • [ December 26, 2025 ] 2025 Retrospective of Top International Reporting on Rio’s Favelas #MediaWatch
  • [ December 24, 2025 ] ‘No One in Terra Firme Will Sleep Hungry Today!’ Amid Adversity, Belém Favela Initiatives Distribute 2,200 Meals During COP30 With Support from the People’s Summit Solidarity Kitchen *Highlight
HomeFavela Qualities

Favela Qualities

*Highlight

In the Favela of City of God, Pioneering Elderly Day Care ‘Casa de Santa Ana’ Has Fought the Isolation and Confinement of Seniors for 30 Years

By Amanda Baroni Lopes • Translation by Yasmin Quaife • August 27, 2025

Clique aqui para Português Established in 1988, initially to offer religious support to a group of 20 elderly residents of City of God, in Rio de Janeiro’s West Zone, Casa de Santa Ana (Santa Ana’s […]

*Highlight

Turning Affection Into Film: The Legacy of Cadu Barcellos, a Maré Native Who Brought Dignity to the Favela in Brazilian Film

By Juliana Portella • Translation by Marina Devine Guzmán • August 25, 2025

Clique aqui para Português In the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, in the group of favelas that make up Complexo da Maré—more precisely, in the Pinheiro favela, Block 7, apartment 502: that’s where Cadu […]

#CommunityMedia

‘O Catarinão’: New Community Newspaper Strengthens Memory and Identity in Jardim Catarina, in Greater Rio de Janeiro’s São Gonçalo

By Igor Soares • Translation by Kay Alvito • August 11, 2025

Clique aqui para Português Check out our complete series of community media profiles here. Launched in October 2024, the newspaper O Catarinão portrays the favela of Jardim Catarina in São Gonçalo, a municipality in Greater Rio […]

*Highlight

Cerro Corá Residents in Motion: Favela Collective Strengthens Community Through Literacy, Memory, Culture and Film [PROFILE]

By Bárbara Dias • Translation by Marina Devine Guzmán • August 6, 2025

Clique aqui para Português In 2013, in the Cerro Corá favela, nestled between the neighborhoods of Cosme Velho and Santa Teresa, in Rio de Janeiro’s South Zone, the Cerro Corá Residents in Motion Collective was […]

*Highlight

‘We Only Have Dignity When the Favela Becomes Sustainable’: Collective Action Preserves Agroforest in Morro da Providência

By Bárbara Dias • Translation by Kay Alvito • July 29, 2025

Clique aqui para Português The agroforest in the Morro da Providência favela, in Rio de Janeiro’s city center, has been pulsing with renewed health since July 12. On that day, a collective action organized by […]

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RioOnWatch’s anti-racist reporting series won silver in the 2022 inaugural The Anthem Awards, in the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion category among Best Local Awareness Programs.
A Project of

About

In May 2010, Catalytic Communities launched what was originally Rio Olympics Neighborhood Watch (hence RioOnWatch), a program to bring visibility to favela community voices in the lead-up to the 2016 Rio Olympics. This news site, RioOnWatch.org, grew into a much-needed and unique reference featuring favela perspectives on the urban transformation of Rio. With diverse and deeply interlinked articles by a mix of community reporters, resident opinions, solidarity reporters, international observers, and academic researchers, we work to engender a more accurate picture of favelas, their contributions to the city, and the potential of favela-led community development in Rio and around the world.

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Awards

Special Thanks

Fundação Heinrich Böll Brasil
World Habitat
Fideicomiso de la Tierra Caño Martín Peña
Pastoral de Favelas
Center for CLT Innovation
Global Land Alliance
Ecocity Builders
Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation
SDSU Behner Stiefel Center
The Rio Times
Forum Grita Baixada
Beto Paixão Graphic Design
Architecture Museum of Vienna
Yale School of Architecture

  • Home
    • Highlighted Stories
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  • Communities
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  • Policies
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    • Education
    • Health
    • Sanitation
  • Violations
    • Human Rights
    • Housing Rights
    • Police Violence
    • Government Neglect
  • Organizing
    • Community Organizing
    • Community Solution
    • Resistance
    • Sustainability
    • Participation
    • Protest
    • Culture
    • Responsible Tourism
  • Content Map
    • by Community Contributors
    • by Int’l Observers
    • Series
      • Anti-Racist Series
      • Energy Justice Series
    • Event Reports
    • Video Stories
    • Photo-Essays
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    • Research & Analysis
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    • Listicles
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    • Translated Articles
  • About
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