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 .
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 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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