María Soledad Cisternas

María Soledad Cisternas Reyes (born November 4, 1959) is a Chilean lawyer and disability rights activist. Cisternas, who became blind while she was in college has worked to increase access for people with disabilities in Chile and at the United Nations (UN). She was on the committee that drafted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and served as the chairperson on the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 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. Cisternas was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa at the age of fourteen. She attended the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile where she studied Legal Sciences and earned a master's degree in Political Science.

She created the Legal Disability Program at the Diego Portales University in 2000 and chaired the department until 2008. Cisternas served as the chairperson on the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Cisternas was appointed the Special Envoy on Disability and Accessibility by the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres in 2017.