This study looks into the responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. The main objective of this study is to enable an understanding of a favela as a capable urban governance institution. This rationale is made possible through the case study of local initiatives that surged in Rio during the crisis, by making use of Byrne’s (2005) complexity framework applied to social sciences. Through the analysis of this case, it becomes clear that three institutional conditions allowed local organisations to advance urban equality throughout the pandemic. First, a condition of formal government institution’s failure. Second, a condition of inadequate access to health and sanitation. Third, a structural inequality that portray favelas as a threat to be perceived by formal institutions as something that must be fixed. This understanding leads to a contribution to the academic and societal understanding of urban settings in Brazil. This paper contains important implications for future work in favelas, although its finding are somewhat limited to the specific context of favelas in Rio de Janeiro.