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Latest News
  • [ December 10, 2025 ] Youth at the Center of Climate Decisions: During COP30, Children’s Summit Highlights ‘It’s Children Who Feel It Most!’ Civil Society
  • [ December 5, 2025 ] ‘Favela-based Media Are a Pillar of Democracy’: In Rocinha, Climate Justice Takes Center Stage at the 3rd Conference on Favela and Peripheral Journalism #MediaWatch
  • [ December 4, 2025 ] Portrait of a Centenary-Old Favela of Stilt Houses: Belém’s Vila da Barca Resists, Organizes and Fights for Sanitation and Adequate Housing #HousingWatch
  • [ November 30, 2025 ] The Story of Dona Pascoalina, Midwife and Healer of Morro do Borel by Community Contributors
  • [ November 15, 2025 ] ‘There’s No Such Thing as Normal After a Massacre’: One Week After Police Mega-Operation Kills 121 People, Residents From Complexos do Alemão and Penha Speak Out #UPPWatch
HomePolicies

Policies

Electricity is not a Social Right Cover Art
by Community Contributors

In Brazil, Electricity Is Not a Social Right

By Michel Silva • Translation by Clau Guimarães • June 18, 2021

Clique aqui para Português This article is part of a series on energy justice and efficiency in Rio’s favelas. Months ago, residents of Rio de Janeiro’s largest favela, Rocinha, created a WhatsApp group to denounce power […]

Original artwork by David Amen
*Highlight

In Rio’s Favelas, the Fight Against Police Brutality Begins in the Womb

By Alexandre Cerqueira • Translation by Clau Guimarães • June 15, 2021

Clique aqui para Português This article is the latest contribution to our year-long reporting project, “Rooting Anti-Racism in the Favelas: Deconstructing Social Narratives About Racism in Rio de Janeiro.” Follow our Rooting Anti-Racism in the Favelas […]

Photo by Tatiane Mendes
#CoronavirusWatch

From Mourning to the Supreme Court: Favela Voices Demand Reduction of Police Lethality

By Tatiana Lima • Translation by Annie Swank • June 10, 2021

Clique aqui para Português For the first time in Brazilian history, favela grassroots movements, mothers of victims of State violence, and civil society organizations were heard by the country’s highest court, the Brazilian Supreme Court […]

Community vegetable garden in Campo Grande. Photo: Reproduction Living Bay Movement.
Policies

Environmentalists Denounce Gutting of Rio de Janeiro Community Gardens

By Jaqueline Suarez • Translation by Fred Hanson • June 1, 2021

Clique aqui para Português Cuts in technical support, delayed stipends, and lack of supplies: these are some of the complaints made by workers of the Hortas Cariocas program, a community gardening program coordinated by Rio […]

#CoronavirusWatch

From Our Vantage Point, The Whole World Has Ended #Brazils Part 3—Southeast

By Lia Soares • Translation by Sarah Jacobs • May 31, 2021

Clique aqui para Português This is the third article in a five-part series, published in Portuguese by favela-based online magazine Favela em Pauta and titled “Brazils: Stories of the Periphery in the Pandemic.” Each essay […]

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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.

Contact & Support

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10 Years! Check Out Our Story:

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

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  • Organizing
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  • Content Map
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