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Latest News
  • [ April 30, 2025 ] Sustainable Favela Network Launches Groundbreaking ‘Favela Climate Memory’ Exhibition on May 3, Kicking Off Museums Month [RELEASE] *Highlight
  • [ April 20, 2025 ] ‘No One Wants to Hear How Much We Miss Them’: 20 Years After the Baixada Massacre, Families of Victims Report Poor Mental Health and Demand Psychosocial Support from the State #UPPWatch
  • [ April 14, 2025 ] ‘I Was Up All Night, Like Every Summer’: Storm Deepens Climate Anxiety and Sparks Outrage Among Favela Residents Across Greater Rio de Janeiro, Say #VoicesFromSocialMedia #MediaWatch
  • [ April 7, 2025 ] ‘Temporary’ Housing in Santa Cruz Turns 60: Reflecting on Cesarão, the First Housing Complex, and Favela do Aço #EvictionsWatch
  • [ March 30, 2025 ] Meet Dona Nete: The Acari Artisan Turning Waste Into Fashion and Championing Zero Waste in the Favela *Highlight
Homestreet vendors

street vendors

*Highlight

The Informal Economy in Rio: Stories from Pedra do Sal and Beyond

By Eli Nemzer • January 24, 2017

Clique aqui para Português “Uma promoção pra você: dez Reais, três Antárticas!” “Queijo Minas! Queijo Minas! Cinco Reais!” The calls of the vendors echo into the warm night over the hum of laughing revelers and […]

#GentrificationWatch

Port Region Residents Suffer with Ceaseless Light Rail Construction #OlympicLegacyWatch

By Mariah Barber • November 28, 2016

Clique aqui para Português In 2013, construction for the Veículo Leve Sobre Trilhos (VLT) or Light Rail System, led by Rio’s Port revitalization program, Porto Maravilha’s (Marvelous Port) VLT Carioca Consortium, began throughout Rio de Janeiro’s […]

#ParticipationWatch

On the Eve of the Mayoral Election, Favela Residents Speak about Their Public Policy Needs

By Luisa Fenizola • Translation by Laura Fairman • October 1, 2016

Clique aqui para Português With municipal elections fast approaching, Rio voters need to choose from the 11 candidates running for mayor. Despite very different proposals, the challenges facing the post-Olympics city management are the same for everyone, […]

*Highlight

The Language of the Favela Part 3: Cultural Expressions

By Gitanjali Patel • April 15, 2016

Clique aqui para Português This is the third of a three-part series on the language spoken in the peripheries of Rio de Janeiro. Don’t miss Part 1 and Part 2. Everything in the favela is different, […]

Civil Society

Brazil’s First Favela, Morro da Providência, Celebrates 118th Birthday

By Marta Ill-Raga • November 27, 2015

Clique aqui para Português On Sunday, November 22, Brazil’s first favela, the community of Morro da Providência, celebrated its 118th birthday. Though the exact day is unknown, it is popularly understood that Providência was born in November 1897. Following Brazil Black Awareness month events […]

Posts pagination

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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
    • Understanding Rio
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  • Communities
    • Central
    • South Zone
    • North Zone
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    • Greater Rio
  • Policies
    • Public Security
    • Housing
    • Transport
    • 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
    • Interviews/Profiles
    • Research & Analysis
    • Book Reviews
    • Film Reviews
    • Listicles
    • Opinion
    • Reference
    • Podcasts
    • Translated Articles
  • About
    • Timeline
    • Our Reporting Policy
    • License
    • Feedback
  • For Journos
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