FEATURE
Peacemaker 360:
Bringing Ordinary People’s
Peace Narratives to the World
Bolun Li
Christian Cito, founder of Peacemaker 360, a media platform dedicated to bringing
ordinary people’s peace stories to the world, to promote peacebuilding in the
community level.
Diinsider: What problem is
Peacemaker 360 aiming to
address?
Christian: Peacemaker 360
is responding to the lack of
positive stories in many social
and mainstream media platforms
when reporting on countries hit
by conflicts around the world.
Peacemaker 360 does not
minimize the devastating effects
of conflicts in many parts of
the world but rather provides
balanced peace narratives by
amplifying voices of ordinary
citizens who best know where
their communities hurt and who
are doing all they can to promote
peace.
D: What do you do at Peacemaker
360?
C: Our campaign amplifies
stories of resilience of ordinary
citizens addressing conflicts in
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their respective communities. By
doing so, we hope to contribute
to the shaping of hopeful peace
narratives on our media outlets
and encourage the noble pursuit of
peace at home and abroad.
D: How did Peacemaker 360
came to be?
C: My name is Christian Cito
Cirhigiri. I am a youth advocate
and peace journalist from the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
I am currently working with the
Central Mennonite Committee
in Colombia as a youth and
peacebuilding advisor.
Growing up in eastern Congo, I
have experienced first-hand the
effects of violence and decided
from a young age to be a positive
influence for peace.
My master’s degree in International
Peace Studies at the University of
Notre Dame in the United States
deepened my understanding
of the complexity in addressing
modern conflicts. In the summer
of 2015, I conducted a research on
the role of student movements in
promoting ethnic reconciliation in
Burundi, eastern Congo, and Sri
Lanka. In my research, I found out
that firstly, no one modern conflict
is an isolated case. All conflicts are
part of a war industrial complex
profiting world superpowers
including but not limited to the
US, China, and Russia. As a
peace activist, I also came to
realize that while advocating for
peace in eastern Congo, I should
concomitantly advocate for peace
in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Papua
New Guinea, Libya, Somalia, and
South Sudan because all these
conflicts mostly benefit the same
superpowers at the expense of
innocent civilian lives.
Secondly, because of most social
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