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Latest News
  • [ June 20, 2025 ] Get to Know ‘Gaia Space’, A Network of Women Fighting for Environmental Justice and Obstetric Dignity in Greater Rio de Janeiro by Community Contributors
  • [ June 10, 2025 ] Groundbreaking Oral History Project—‘Favela Climate Memory’—Launches Final Exhibition, Fostering Emotional Connection Between Climate, Nature and Community [Video] *Highlight
  • [ June 7, 2025 ] ‘Being a Black Woman Running a Museum Means Facing the Past, Eye to Eye… It’s Reparation in Motion’: Sinara Rúbia’s Full Speech at Brazil’s 1st Seminar on Anti-Racist Museums *Highlight
  • [ June 5, 2025 ] ‘A Museology That Doesn’t Serve Life Serves No Purpose’: ‘Unconventional’ Favela Museums Lead First Seminar of Rio de Janeiro’s Social Museology Network *Highlight
  • [ June 2, 2025 ] A Product of the 2016 Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro the ‘Evictions Museum’ Unveils New Walking Tour, Reigniting Vila Autódromo’s History and Resistance [IMAGES] #EvictionsWatch
HomeArmed Forces

Armed Forces

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 […]

Realengo residents protest against the occupation of the place with condominiums. Photo by: Roberto Moreyra/Roberto Moreyra
#ParticipationWatch

After Long Dispute, Green Space Project ‘100% Realengo Park’ is Approved

By Pilar Boyero • February 25, 2021

Clique aqui para Português This is our most recent article in a series created in partnership with the Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies at San Diego State University, to produce articles for the Digital Brazil Project on human rights and […]

*Highlight

Rio de Janeiro: A Laboratory for Political Control [OPINION]

By Gizele Martins • Translation by Sharon Gogar • April 22, 2019

Clique aqui para Português For the original article in Portuguese by Gizele Martins* published by Brasil de Fato click here. Favelas and peripheries are authorities’ areas of choice for police to experiment with weapons and […]

#InterventionWatch

Acts of Resistance, Part 2: Mothers Fight for Responses to Their Sons’ Deaths Followed by Impunity

By Gizele Martins, Jessica Santos • Translation by Hannah Cavalcanti • December 10, 2018

Clique aqui para Português For the original article in Portuguese published by the Institute of Alternative Policies for the Southern Cone (PACS) on Medium, click here. Reporting by Gizele Martins and Jessica Santos in partnership with the Brazilian Fund for Human […]

#InterventionWatch

Acts of Resistance, Part 1: Dictatorship in Democracy—Military Intervention in Rio Brings Increase in Favela Exterminations

By Gizele Martins, Jessica Santos • November 19, 2018

Clique aqui para Português For the original article in Portuguese published by the Institute of Alternative Policies for the Southern Cone (PACS) on Medium, click here. Reporting by Gizele Martins and Jessica Santos in partnership with the […]

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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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contact@rioonwatch.org
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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

  • 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
    • Book Reviews
    • Film Reviews
    • Listicles
    • Opinion
    • Reference
    • Podcasts
    • Translated Articles
  • About
    • Timeline
    • Our Reporting Policy
    • License
    • Feedback
  • For Journos
  • Donate

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