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  • [ 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
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#ParticipationWatch

Marcelo Crivella, Evangelical Bishop Running for Mayor of Rio de Janeiro [PROFILE]

By Lisa Hollenbach • October 25, 2016

Clique aqui para Português Marcelo Crivella, 59, has a varied professional background. He’s been a taxi driver, evangelical bishop, minister of fisheries, gospel recording artist, senator, engineer, missionary in Africa and book author. Now he is in […]

#EvictionsWatch

Heloisa Helena of Vila Autódromo Receives First Ever Dandara Award

By Stephanie Reist • May 17, 2016

Clique aqui para Português On Wednesday May 11, Heloisa Helena Costa Berto, an Afro-Brazilian Candomblé priestess, also known by her Candomblé name Luizinha of Nanã, whose home and spiritual center in Vila Autódromo were demolished to make way for […]

#EvictionsWatch

Letter from Vila Autódromo’s Heloisa Helena to the UN Human Rights Commission

By Heloisa Helena Costa Berto • Translation by Sheila Taylor • March 23, 2016

Clique aqui para Português This is a letter from Heloisa Helena Costa Berto/Luizinha de Nanã of Vila Autódromo to Mr. Ulrik Halsteen, member of the Business and Human Rights working group of the United Nations Office of the […]

#EvictionsWatch

Candomblé Priestess in Vila Autódromo Received Death Threats to Make Way for 2016 Olympics

By Heloisa Helena Costa Berto • Translation by Christopher Owens, Emma Platais, Luana Gama • February 23, 2016

Clique aqui para Português This is the second letter sent by Heloisa Helena Costa Berto and published on RioOnWatch. Read her first letter, published on September 17, 2015, here. I have spent the past month […]

#EvictionsWatch

Candomblé Priestess from Vila Autódromo Describes the Terror of the Eviction Process

By Heloisa Helena Costa Berto • Translation by Carolyn Oliveira • September 17, 2015

Clique aqui para Português Vila Autódromo evictee, Heloisa Helena Costa Berto, shared the letter she wrote documenting her painful ordeal with the City of Rio, with RioOnWatch. Here it is published in its entirety. Following is an urgent […]

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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.
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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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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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  • Violations
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    • Government Neglect
  • Organizing
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  • Content Map
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    • Event Reports
    • Video Stories
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