# Abdulrahim Abby Farah (Cabdiraxiim Abby Faarax)

> Abdulrahim Abby Farah (1919–2018): Somalia's ambassador to Ethiopia and to the United Nations, chair of the UN Special Committee against Apartheid, and UN Under-Secretary-General 1979 to 1990.

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Last checked: 2026-11-12
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## Who was he?

Abdulrahim Abby Farah spent 25 years representing Somalia at, and then serving, the United Nations ([BBC News, 15 May 2018](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-44122866)). He chaired the UN Special Committee against Apartheid from 1969 to 1972 and was a UN Under-Secretary-General from 1979 to 1990 (same source; [Wikipedia, Abdulrahim Abby Farah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdulrahim_Abby_Farah)).

## Early life in Wales

He was born on 22 October 1919 in Barry, in south Wales (Wikipedia; [BBC News, 15 May 2018](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-44122866)). His father, Abby Farah, was a Somali seaman who had come to work at Barry Docks and became a community leader. His mother, Hilda Anderson, ran a boarding house ([WalesOnline, 17 May 2018](https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/barry-boy-who-helped-free-14663918); Wikipedia). He went to Gladstone Road School and Barry Grammar School, then studied at University College, Exeter ([BBC News, 15 May 2018](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-44122866)). Wikipedia records that he also studied at Balliol College, Oxford (Wikipedia).

## Somali public service, 1950s to 1965

Wikipedia records that he began his career in the [British Somaliland](/en/history/british-somaliland-1884-1960/) administration, and that he later directed the Somali Information Service (Wikipedia). After independence in 1960 he became Somalia's ambassador to Ethiopia in 1961. In 1962 he represented Somalia at the UN Economic Commission for Africa ([BBC News, 15 May 2018](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-44122866)), and in 1964 and 1965 at meetings of the Organisation of African Unity's Council of Ministers (Wikipedia).

## At the United Nations, 1965 to 1990

From 1965 to 1972 he was Somalia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York ([BBC News, 15 May 2018](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-44122866)). In 1966 he was also acting Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Wikipedia). From 1969 to 1972 he chaired the UN Special Committee against Apartheid, and in 1972 he presided over a special session of the Security Council ([WalesOnline](https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/barry-boy-who-helped-free-14663918)). That year Somalia's Foreign Minister, [Omar Arteh Ghalib](/en/people/omar-arteh-ghalib/), was President of the Security Council (Wikipedia).

He then joined the UN Secretariat. He was Assistant Secretary-General for Special Political Questions from 1973 to 1978 and Under-Secretary-General from 1979 to 1990 ([BBC News, 15 May 2018](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-44122866)). In 1990 he led a UN mission that reported on progress towards ending apartheid in South Africa (Wikipedia).

## Later life

In 1998 he helped found the Partnership to Strengthen African Grassroots Organizations (PaSAGO) and later chaired it (Wikipedia). He died at his home in New York on 14 May 2018, aged 98 (Wikipedia; [WalesOnline](https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/barry-boy-who-helped-free-14663918)).

## Offices held

- Director of the Somali Information Service
- Ambassador to Ethiopia, 1961 to 1965
- Permanent Representative to the United Nations, 1965 to 1972
- Chair of the UN Special Committee against Apartheid, 1969 to 1972
- UN Assistant Secretary-General for Special Political Questions, 1973 to 1978
- UN Under-Secretary-General, 1979 to 1990

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