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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
HomeSESC

SESC

*Highlight

The Play ‘Pacts to Reforest the Earth’ Portrays 2040 in Rio’s Maré Favela, Where ‘All That Remain Are the Pests and the Power of Ancestral Love’ [REVIEW]

By Karen Fontoura • Translation by Kay Alvito • July 30, 2025

Clique aqui para Português Through dance, music, audiovisual and many laughs, two Black queers stage the end of humanity. Set in 2040, as the post-human era begins, the play raises the questions: what is Complexo […]

#CoronavirusWatch

Activism, Art, and Solidarity Strengthen LGBTI+ Pride in Rio’s Favelas During the Pandemic

By Wilson Saiki Junior • Translation by Carolyn Oliveira • July 17, 2020

Clique aqui para Português This is our latest article on Covid-19 as it impacts Rio de Janeiro’s favelas. Stories marked by successes, survival, struggles, and resistance are experienced by thousands of members of the LGBTI+ […]

*Highlight

BaixadaCine Film Club Looks to Turn Belford Roxo Into the ‘City of Love’ for Film

By Thábara Garcia • Translation by Edmund Ruge • November 11, 2019

Clique aqui para Português Challenges to the production of culture in Brazil have imposed themselves more and more in 2019. In only ten months, we have already heard the announcement of theater closings, the risk […]

*Highlight

The Kennedy Brothers Community Center #SustainableFavelaNetwork [PROFILE]

By Jessica Depies • September 17, 2018

Clique aqui para Português Initiative: The Kennedy Brothers Community Center (Centro Comunitário Irmãos Kennedy – CCIK) Contact: Facebook | Email Year Founded: 1969 / 2010 Community: Vila Kennedy Mission: The Kennedy Brothers Community Center is a nonprofit association managed […]

Civil Society

Community Solutions in the Absence of Morar Carioca in Pica-Pau

By Kathleen Hennessy • May 28, 2013

For the past five years, Irenaldo Honório da Silva, president of the Pica-Pau Residents’ Association, has helped to organize his community in Rio’s North Zone for a day of entertainment in partnership with social and […]

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
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  • 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
  • Donate

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