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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
HomeOpinion

Opinion

by Community Contributors

I Was Fired Because I Dared to Leave the Slave Quarters

By Célio Gari • Translation by Emma Platais • May 21, 2015

For the original in Portuguese, by Célio Gari, published in Outras Palavras, click here. Many garis (trash collectors) have been persecuted after winning historic victories for their rights as workers. The City has dismantled leadership and favored subcontracting […]

#UPPWatch

The Favela Where I Live Is Bleeding

By Vitor Paz • Translation by Charlotte Livingstone • October 27, 2014

Clique aqui para Português Resident account on the state of violence in the community of Complexo do Alemão. Today I woke up reflecting on what is going on in my favela. I started to realize that […]

by Community Contributors

Election Time in Alemão: Garbage, Political Smiles and Opinions

By Saulo Santana • Translation by Emma Platais • October 20, 2014
#UPPWatch

“Another One”: Counting Murders on the Outskirts of the Marvelous City

By Léo Custódio • Translation by Margó Hufstetler • July 23, 2014

Clique aqui para Português While the Brazilian national team suffered the worst defeat of all time, Magé—my hometown, located in the greater metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro—grieved yet another murder. The sadness and outrage experienced […]

Opinion

Favelas and Cracolândias that No One Sees

By Carl Hart, Eliana Sousa Silva, Julita Lemgruber • Translation by Lucy McMahon • June 22, 2014

For the original by Carl Hart, Eliana Sousa Silva and Julita Lemgruber in Portuguese in O Globo click here. What do favelas and ‘cracolândias’ (‘crack lands’) have in common? Both suffer the same problems: they […]

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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
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    • Sanitation
  • Violations
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    • Police Violence
    • Government Neglect
  • Organizing
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  • Content Map
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    • Video Stories
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