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Latest News
  • [ January 29, 2026 ] ‘It’s the Place of Resistance of Our Existence’: Duque de Caxias’ Culture Manor is a Hub for Art, Education and Leisure by Community Contributors
  • [ January 13, 2026 ] 10 Years Since the Rio Olympics: Vila Autódromo Continues to Resist Gentrification Pressures Amidst New ‘Olympic Barra’ Neighborhood #EvictionsWatch
  • [ January 8, 2026 ] COP30 Civil Society Rundown: Thousands of Communities and Social Movements, Representing Favelas, Indigenous, Quilombola and Other Marginalized Groups Fill Belém During COP30 [IMAGES] *Highlight
  • [ December 31, 2025 ] ‘What We Want Aren’t Bodies on the Ground… It’s Recognition of [Our] People Creating Solutions’: Penha Favelas Hold Composters and Integrated Health Events Highlighting Local Climate Memories *Highlight
  • [ December 26, 2025 ] 2025 Retrospective of Top International Reporting on Rio’s Favelas #MediaWatch
Homecompulsory drug treatment

compulsory drug treatment

Civil Society

Mental Health Activists Gather in Maré Favela to Discuss Mental Asylums and Treatment Alternatives

By Zaynah Karem • June 8, 2019

Clique aqui para Português On Friday, May 24, Redes da Maré (Maré Development Networks NGO) led a conversation at Galpão Bela Maré—a cultural center in Maré, in Rio de Janeiro’s North Zone—to discuss ways to […]

*Highlight

Maré Cracklands: Three Years of Neglect by the Authorities

By Thaís Cavalcante • Translation by Cara D’Rosario • November 11, 2014

Clique aqui para Português The government is proving incapable of facing an enormous and challenging public health problem: drug abuse. State and municipal neglect in  Nova Holanda, one of the 16 favelas that make up Maré, has […]

Opinion

Favelas and Cracolândias that No One Sees

By Carl Hart, Eliana Sousa Silva, Julita Lemgruber • Translation by Lucy McMahon • June 22, 2014

For the original by Carl Hart, Eliana Sousa Silva and Julita Lemgruber in Portuguese in O Globo click here. What do favelas and ‘cracolândias’ (‘crack lands’) have in common? Both suffer the same problems: they […]

#Rio2016

Colônia Juliano Moreira in the Dark Over TransOlímpica, Public Works & Compulsory Crack Treatment

By Felicity Clarke • April 5, 2013

Clique aqui para Português “There’s a total lack of transparency on the part of the authorities with Colônia and its residents. We want answers,” asserts Juliana Moura Marques, resident of Colônia Juliano Moreira in Jacarepaguá […]

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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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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