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Latest News
  • [ 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
  • [ December 24, 2025 ] ‘No One in Terra Firme Will Sleep Hungry Today!’ Amid Adversity, Belém Favela Initiatives Distribute 2,200 Meals During COP30 With Support from the People’s Summit Solidarity Kitchen *Highlight
Homeperiphery

periphery

Photo: Léo Lima/Cafuné na Laje.
*Highlight

Jacarezinho: A History of the Blackest Favela in Rio de Janeiro

By William Reis • Translation by Cormac Whitney Low • June 21, 2021

Clique aqui para Português For the original article by William Reis, Coordinator of AfroReggae, in Veja Rio, click here. The Getúlio Vargas family estate, industrial development of Rio, route for Afro-Brazilians escaping slavery and Tia […]

#CoronavirusWatch

From Our Vantage Point, The Whole World Has Ended #Brazils Part 3—Southeast

By Lia Soares • Translation by Sarah Jacobs • May 31, 2021

Clique aqui para Português This is the third article in a five-part series, published in Portuguese by favela-based online magazine Favela em Pauta and titled “Brazils: Stories of the Periphery in the Pandemic.” Each essay […]

Project supports women entrepeneurs from Rio's West Zone during the pandemic. Photo: Ana Lemos
#CoronavirusWatch

Amid the Pandemic, Women from Rio’s West Zone Reinvent Their Businesses

By Aira Nascimento, Anna Lemos, Flávia Domingues, Heloisa Mazza, Mariane Diaz • Translation by Fred Hanson • May 29, 2021

Clique aqui para Português This is our latest article about Covid-19 and its impacts on the favelas. It is also part of a series created in partnership with the Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies at San […]

Élida do Nascimento's Inclusion Project in Éden, in the city of São João de Meriti, distributing fresh food to residents. Photo by Élida do Nascimento
Civil Society

Sustainable Favela Network 3rd Annual Meet-Up, Part 7: Fresh Food, Ravengard, and 2021 Proposals

By Gisele Moura, Julio Santos Filho • Translation by Catherine Osborn • December 30, 2020

Clique aqui para Português This is the final article in a series covering the events of the 3rd Annual Full-Network Meet-Up of the Sustainable Favela Network, which happened online on November 7, 2020.  The Sustainable Favela Network (SFN) […]

Biodigestor do Vale Encantado.
*Highlight

Sustainable Favelas’ 3rd Annual Meet-Up, Part 4: Virtual Tours of Water & Sewerage Projects

By Julio Santos Filho • Translation by Gianna Giordani • December 24, 2020

Clique aqui para Português This is the fourth article in a series covering the events of the 3rd Annual Full-Network Meet-Up of the Sustainable Favela Network, which happened online on November 7, 2020.  The Sustainable Favela Network (SFN) […]

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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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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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