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Latest News
  • [ August 6, 2026 ] Agroecological Collective Action Brings Fishing Community Together With Partners to Plant and Launch Remanso Beach Fair in Suruí, Magé by Community Contributors
  • [ August 4, 2026 ] No Power Is Authentic When It Is Based on Exclusion and Silencing: Gender-Based Political Violence Against Black Women in Brazil [OPINION] #ParticipationWatch
  • [ July 31, 2026 ] Addressing False Claims After Community Land Trust Bill Rejected by Rio de Janeiro City Council #GentrificationWatch
  • [ July 30, 2026 ] 10 Years After Rio Olympics: The Persistence of Structural Disinvestment in Rio’s Majority Working-Class Suburbs [OPINION] #LegacyWatch
  • [ July 29, 2026 ] Largest Favela in Niterói, Morro do Preventório, Launches Popular Mapping Initiative to Support Upgrading Policies by Community Contributors
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#UPPWatch

Rio de Janeiro’s ‘Milícias’—Vigilante, Off-Duty Police Gangs—Are Not a Parallel Power: They Are the State at Work [BOOK REVIEW]

By Julio Santos Filho • Translation by Sia Kulkarni • July 13, 2026

Clique aqui para Português This article is part of a series on the 2026 Brazilian elections, focusing on the perspectives of Greater Rio’s favelas. In the book Como Nasce um Miliciano? (How Is a Militiaman […]

*Highlight

The Sustainable Favela Network’s ‘Savory Wisdom’ Roundtable on Favela Food Sovereignty Concludes Rio’s 13th Environmental Film Festival

By Bárbara Dias • Translation by Kincaid Cummings • September 7, 2024

Clique aqui para Português On August 30, at Arena Dicró in Penha, in Rio de Janeiro’s North Zone, the Sustainable Favela Network’s “Savory Wisdom” roundtable took place, featuring eight community organizers from Greater Rio favelas, all […]

*Highlight

The Challenge of Making Environmental Racism Visible as Reflected in the Documentary Film ‘How to Survive Environmental Racism’

By Fabio Leon • Translation by Nathan Bergrin • July 17, 2024

 Clique aqui para Português This article offers a behind-the-scenes look at the documentary How to Survive Environmental Racism. Divided into four chapters, the documentary-in-progress serves as a tool against the invisibility of Greater Rio […]

by Community Contributors

Socio-Environmental Disasters in the Guandu Environmental Protection Area Alter the Lives of Fishermen in Greater Rio de Janeiro

By Fabio Leon • Translation by Ezra Spira-Cohen • April 22, 2024

Clique aqui para Português This article is part of 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 environmental justice in the favelas […]

Civil Society

1st National Sustainable Favela Network Exchange Expands Knowledge and Weaves Sustainability Among Favelas, Quilombos and Indigenous Communities Across Brazil [VIDEO]

By Iamê de Sá • Translation by Staff • July 31, 2023

Clique aqui para Português On June 6, 2023, 155 community organizers and allies from 12 Brazilian states—Bahia, Ceará, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Pará, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande […]

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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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
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