• English
  • Português
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
RioOnWatch
  • Home
    • Highlighted Stories
    • Understanding Rio
    • Reference Articles
  • Communities
    • Central
    • South Zone
    • North Zone
    • West Zone
    • 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
    • Reviews
    • Listicles
    • Opinion
    • Reference
    • Podcasts
    • Translated Articles
  • About
    • Timeline
    • Our Reporting Policy
    • License
    • Feedback
  • For Journos
  • Donate
Latest News
  • [ December 26, 2025 ] 2025 Retrospective of Top International Reporting on Rio’s Favelas #MediaWatch
  • [ December 23, 2025 ] Rio de Janeiro Designs First Plan for Social Interest Housing: Popular Council Launches Campaign to Ensure Plan Addresses Real Needs #GentrificationWatch
  • [ December 22, 2025 ] ‘We’re Planting the Future’: Reforestation Collective Action in Salgueiro Recovers Land Prone to Fires and Landslides with Native Atlantic Forest Fruit Trees *Highlight
  • [ December 15, 2025 ] ‘To Lose Your Memory Is to Lose Your Essence’: Vidigal Celebrates Its 85th Anniversary With Cultural Event Inspired by the ‘Favela Climate Memory’ Project *Highlight
  • [ December 12, 2025 ] Brazil’s First National Meeting of Community Architecture Highlights Women’s Leadership and the Power of Self-Built Architecture in Achieving the Right to Housing and to the City #InterventionWatch
HomeWest Zone

West Zone

Policies

Rio de Janeiro’s Militias and State Power, Part 2: Specialists Describe Their History and Expansion Over Time

By Tatiana Lima • Translation by Ethan Kaimana, Ikrom Alajoulin • April 18, 2024

Clique aqui para Português Originally published in Portuguese in 2020, this is part two of a two-part article that describes the expansion of the state-sanctioned power of vigilante police militias in the Rio de Janeiro […]

*Highlight

Rio de Janeiro’s Militias and State Power, Part 1: The Alarming and Little Reported Underbelly of Rio’s Elections

By Tatiana Lima • Translation by Adrian Hooper • April 17, 2024

Clique aqui para Português Originally published in Portuguese in 2020, this is part one of a two-part article that discusses the expansion of the state-sanctioned power of vigilante police militias in the Rio de Janeiro […]

*Highlight

‘Favela Climate Memory’ Exhibition Arrives in Santa Cruz Taking the Climate History of Five Rio Favelas to Young Audiences

By Bárbara Dias • Translation by Staff • March 18, 2024

Clique aqui para Português The Favela Climate Memory Exhibition, organized by museums and memory projects associated with the Sustainable Favela Network (SFN)*, is on display from March 1-31 at the Palacete Princesa Isabel, Santa Cruz […]

*Highlight

Art, Resistance and Ancestral Struggle at Carnival, Part 1: Exploring Rio’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Through the Traditional Bate-Bola Clowns of the Peripheries

By Tatiana Lima • Translation by Staff • February 11, 2024

Clique aqui para Português This is the first in a series of three articles about carnival traditions in Rio’s favelas and peripheries, respectively: the Bate-Bola clowns, an indelible tradition in the North and West Zones, […]

*Highlight

Meeting of the Waters in City of God: Local Project Strengthens Identity and Salvages Memory of the Community’s Rivers

By Gabrielle da Conceição, Lidiane Santos • Translation by Kay Alvito • January 22, 2024

Clique aqui para Português This is the final in a series of articles on water justice in the favelas resulting from the course “Climate Justice in Community Journalism: From Pitching to Writing.” The course, conducted by […]

Posts pagination

« 1 … 7 8 9 … 113 »

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

contact@rioonwatch.org
WhatsApp +55.21.991.976.444
USA VOIP +1.301.637.7360

Volunteer | Donate

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

  • Home
    • Highlighted Stories
    • Understanding Rio
    • Reference Articles
  • Communities
    • Central
    • South Zone
    • North Zone
    • West Zone
    • 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
    • Reviews
    • Listicles
    • Opinion
    • Reference
    • Podcasts
    • Translated Articles
  • About
    • Timeline
    • Our Reporting Policy
    • License
    • Feedback
  • For Journos
  • Donate

© 2025 Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International