Newsweek has named women’s rights activist Inez McCormack as one of the “150 Women Who Shake the World”.

A women’s rights activist and a former president of the Irish congress of Trade Unions, McCormack is the current chair of the North Belfast-based Participation and the Practice of Rights Project.

She is the only Northern Irish person to be included on the influential list alongside other well known women, including Michelle Obama and Meryl Streep.

Oscar winning actress Meryl Streep recently portrayed the role of McCormack in a special reading of the documentary play ‘Seven”, which detailed the lives of female leaders around the world.

Speaking about the accolade, McCormack said she was delighted to receive the recognition, adding that the honor should serve to highlight the work done by women living in poverty to improve their lives.

“What we have in North Belfast is a model of people who have been excluded modestly and determinedly making their own change,” she told the North Belfast News.

The PPR project offers support to local communities and groups in all parts of Ireland, with a particular focus on North Belfast.

“People who are marginalized are often treated as troublemakers, but the residents of Seven Towers are asking simple questions and expecting simple answers.

“North Belfast should be proud and the work the PPR Project is doing is worthy of real support.”

“It is not only right in itself but it is essential to any definition of an inclusive living democracy and economy. That holds true as much in Belfast, Cork or Derry as it does in Cambodia or Egypt.

“I am deeply proud of the work. The PPR Project is producing concrete good practice of how this can be done. I also look forward to continuing my working with networks of women across the world in tackling issues of trafficking, violence against women and their economic and social exclusion.”

Most recently McCormack was appointed as Independent chair of the Consultative Process to develop a national action plan to meet the government’s commitments in accordance with the United Nations Resolution 1325.