María Soledad Cisternas Reyes (born November 4, 1959) is a Chilean

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and

disability rights The disability rights movement is a global social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for all disabled people. It is made up of organizations of disability activists, also known as disability advocates, around ...

activist. Cisternas, who became blind while she was in college has worked to increase access for

people with disabilities Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

(UN). She was on the committee that drafted the

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an international human rights instrument, international human rights multilateral treaty, treaty of the United Nations intended to protect the rights and dignity of persons with Disabil ...

and served as the chairperson on the

Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is a United Nations body of 18 experts that meets two times a year in Geneva to consider the reports submitted by 164 UN member statesAs of March 2015. on their compliance with the ''Conven ...

. In 2017, Cisternas was appointed the Special Envoy on Disability and Accessibility for the UN.

Biography

Cisternas was born on November 4, 1959, in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

. Cisternas was diagnosed with

retinitis pigmentosa Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a member of a group of genetic disorders called inherited retinal dystrophy (IRD) that cause loss of vision. Symptoms include trouble seeing at night and decreasing peripheral vision (side and upper or lower visua ...

at the age of fourteen. She attended the

Pontifical Catholic University of Chile The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (UC Chile; ) is a traditional private university based in Santiago, Chile. It is one of the thirteen Catholic universities existing in Chilean university system and one of the two pontifical univ ...

where she studied Legal Sciences and earned a master's degree in

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

. While she was in college, her vision continued to worsen, but she hid her condition from teachers and classmates. Becoming blind was difficult for Cisternas to accept, but eventually she started working to secure the rights of people with disabilities. Cisternas went on to become a

and

activist. She created the Legal Disability Program at the

Diego Portales University Diego Portales University (, UDP) is one of the first private universities founded in Chile and is named after the Chilean statesman Diego Portales. UDP has campuses in the Barrio Universitario de SantiagoA literal translation is the Santiago ...

in 2000 and chaired the department until 2008. In 2001, she was part of a team that fought a lawsuit on behalf of the

Deaf community Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

to demand the inclusion of

sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with #Non-manual elements, no ...

and

closed captions Closed captioning (CC) is the process of displaying text on a television, video screen, or other visual display to provide additional or interpretive information, where the viewer is given the choice of whether the text is displayed. Closed cap ...

on television in Chile. Cisternas also created a group called ''Corporación Pro Ayuda al Débil Visual'' (COPRADEV) and served as president. From 2006 to 2008, Cisternas worked on the

ad hoc ''Ad hoc'' is a List of Latin phrases, Latin phrase meaning literally for this. In English language, English, it typically signifies a solution designed for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a Generalization, generalized solution ...

committee that created the

. In 2014, she was awarded the National Prize of Human Rights (') from the (INDH) recognizing her for her work on the intersection of the rights of people with disabilities and the rights of women, children,

senior citizens Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

and

indigenous people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

. Cisternas served as the chairperson on the

. Cisternas was appointed the Special Envoy on Disability and Accessibility by the

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres (born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who is serving as the ninth and current secretary-general of the United Nations since 2017. A member of the Socialist Party (Portugal), ...

in 2017.

References

External links

Message from Ms. María Soledad Cisternas Reyes Special Envoy of the SG on Disability & Accessibility
(2019 video) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cisternas, Maria Soledad 1959 births People from Santiago, Chile Blind lawyers Pontifical Catholic University of Chile alumni Academic staff of Diego Portales University United Nations officials Chilean women activists Chilean blind people Chilean women lawyers Living people Special Envoys of the Secretary-General of the United Nations Blind activists