The organization commissioned seven award-winning playwrights to tell the inspiring personal stories of Inez and six other women who have triumphed over enormous obstacles to bring major changes in their home countries of Northern Ireland, Russia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Guatemala, and Cambodia.

Introducing the SEVEN play US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said:

“I can personally attest to the power and example of these women. I know each of them and I am anxious for you to meet with them. You will meet Inez. She and I have worked together since my time as First Lady. She has been an activist on behalf of women’s rights, labour and peace and her efforts to promote human rights and social justice remain an inspiration to me… It’s not just that women’s rights are human rights, but women’s progress is human progress.”

Speaking to Inez McCormack after the play, Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep said that she was “honoured to read Inez’s role”. She mentioned that whilst researching Inez’s life she came across a quote she loved from Inez - “that my greatest achievement is seeing the glint in a woman's eye who believed she was nobody and now knows she is somebody.”Meryl also said that she would love to come back to visit Belfast.

Speaking after the SEVEN reading Inez said: “It was extremely moving and humbling to watch such a powerful and renowned actress as Meryl Steep portraying my story on the stage. Indeed there was a discussion with the audience after the play and I said I thought Meryl played me much better than I did!”

Following the performance Meryl gave Inez the necklace that she was wearing, Inez adds:

“Meryl’s warm, gentle and understated gesture of friendship and respect in giving me the necklace in the way she did and her perceptive and thoughtful comments affirmed my work that rights are only made real when those who need them assert their dignity through using and owning them to make their own change.”

“I took the opportunity of inviting Meryl when she next comes to Belfast to meet the women from housing and health groups that The Participation and the Practice of Rights Project (The PPR Project) is working with in North Belfast. These women have that “glint in their eye” that I had mentioned in a previous quote and that it would be a wonderful opportunity for her to come to Belfast and meet them for herself.”

“The PPR Project that I chair provides local disadvantaged communities on all parts of the island of Ireland support in using a human rights based approach to address the social and economic inequalities and deprivation they face.”

Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and UN Human Rights Commissioner, has described the PPR project as “…groundbreaking.  They are not just challenging what is wrong, they are creating an inclusive sense of rights and dignity, they are engaged in pioneering work which will command much interest and application elsewhere’.

Originally from Belfast Inez became active in the Northern Ireland civil rights movement in the late 60’s.  She then became a trade union and equality activist, campaigning to organize and revalue the work and contribution of the ‘forgotten’ workers, most of whom were women.  Inez also led major campaigns for strong equality laws and to assert the rights of the most disadvantaged. 

In 1998, she led a successful campaign for such inclusive equality and human rights provisions to be included in the Good Friday Agreement.  She was the first woman President of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and is a member of the Vital Voices Global Advisory Network.  In 2002 she was honored by Vital Voices with their Global Leadership Award. In 2008 she was named NI Women of the Year for her services to women, human rights and communities.

The six other women portrayed in the SEVEN production are:

Mukhtar Mai, Pakistan: gang raped by four men and forced to walk home almost naked in retribution for an alleged 'honor crime,' this harrowing story grabbed headlines across the world. Rather than commit suicide, Mukhtar decided to bring her rapists to justice and improve the condition of women by building schools and becoming an ardent advocate for education in her country.
Annabella De Leon, Guatemala: raised herself and her family out of poverty by educating herself. She has been a Congresswoman since 1995. Despite death threats (she has 6 bodyguards appointed by Human Rights Watch), she is a fearless fighter against corruption and for the rights of the poor, particularly women and indigenous people.

Mu Sochua, Cambodia: the former Minister of Women's Affairs in Cambodia, she was co-nominated in 2005 for the Nobel Peace Prize for her work surrounding sex trafficking in Cambodia. Marina Pisklakova-Parker, Russia: founded ANNA, the first organization in Russia to provide crisis and counseling services for women affected by domestic violence. She is working to engage her government and embassies around the world in educating potential trafficking victims.
Farida Azizi, Afghanistan: a founding member of Afghan Women's Network and the Corporation for Peace and Unity, she has gained asylum and now lives in the United States with her two children and works on women's rights and peace-building in Afghanistan.
Hafsat Abiola, Nigeria: from a family of courageous fighters for freedom and justice, founded and directs KIND (Kudirat Initiative for Democracy), an NGO that aids women in their attempts to advance democracy in Africa and has created skills-training opportunities for young women across Nigeria.

Marina Pisklakova-Parker, Russia: founded ANNA, the first organization in Russia to provide crisis and counselling services for women affected by domestic violence.  She is working to engage her government and embassies around the world in educating potential trafficking victims.

Joining Meryl Streep at the ensemble reading were top-line actresses Shohreh Aghdashloo (The House of Sand and Fog), Tony-nominated Julyana Soelistyo (Golden Child), Lauren Vélez (Dexter), and Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife).

SEVEN is a collaboration by award-winning playwrights Paula Cizmar, Catherine Filloux, Gail Kriegel, Carol K. Mack, Ruth Margraff, Anna Deavere Smith and Susan Yankowitz.

The summit was attended by over 1000 women pioneers in government, media, social activism, business and the arts including Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan; former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright; Chouchou Namegabe, the Congolese anti-rape activist and journalist and; French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde.