# Baar Said Farah (Baar Siciid Faarax)

> Baar Said Farah: Somaliland MP for Sanaag from 2005 to 2021, long the House's only woman, campaigner for a women's quota; presidential adviser from 2024.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/people/baar-said-farah/
Last checked: 2026-11-13
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## Who is she?

Baar Said Farah is a [Somaliland](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/) politician who was a member of the House of Representatives from 2005 to 2021 and, for part of that time, its only woman ([Wikipedia, Baar Said Farah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baar_Said_Farah)). She represented [Dhahar](/en/regions/dhahar/), in Sanaag ([BBC Somali, 18 July 2016](https://www.bbc.com/somali/war/2016/07/160718_somaliland)). Wikipedia gives her clan as Warsangali (same Wikipedia page, citing [the APD 2005 election report](http://www.somalilandlaw.com/APD_election_report06.pdf)).

## Elected in 2005

In the [2005 parliamentary election](/en/history/somaliland-parliamentary-election-2005/), 246 candidates ran for 82 seats. Only seven were women, and two were elected; she was one of them, for the [Sanaag region](/en/regions/sanaag/) ([Interpeace and APD, "A Vote for Peace", September 2006](https://www.interpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/2006_SomS_Interpeace_APD_A_Vote_For_Peace_ENG.pdf)). In December 2010 she was named to a UDUB party sub-committee on liaison and electoral commission affairs ([Haatuf, 21 December 2010](http://www.haatuf.net/2009files/1581798.html)).

## In the House

- January 2013: she called a new airport tax set by the aviation ministry illegal, saying it bypassed the finance ministry ([Hiiraan Online, 21 January 2013](https://www.hiiraan.com/news/2013/Jan/wararka_maanta21-20622.htm)).
- April 2013: she questioned the interior minister and the police commander in the House about an armed attack on the newspaper Hubaal ([Geeska Afrika, 30 April 2013](https://geeska.net/wasiir-duur-iyo-taliye-fadal-oo-shalay-si-adag-uga-hadlay-weerarkii-lagu-qaadya-hubaal/)).
- December 2015: in the House debate on a rape law, she called rape a national disaster that needed its own law ([Somaliland Parliament, Hansard 75, 20 December 2015](https://somalilandparliament.net/storage/hansard/1746333764_doc.pdf)).
- 2016 and 2018: she said that without a quota for women there would be no women in the House, and called the failure to adopt one a misfortune ([Somaliland Current, 13 May 2016](https://www.somalilandcurrent.com/muslim-womens-changing-dress-code-in-somaliland); [Berbera Today, 31 July 2018](https://berberatoday.com/2018/07/31/waa-ayaan-darro-in-haweenka-lagala-masuugo-kootada-ay-ku-yeelanayaan-barlamaanka-xildhibaan-baar-siciid/)).

## 2021 and after

She welcomed the peaceful conduct of the May 2021 vote ([Hadhwanaag News, 5 June 2021](https://hadhwanaagnews.ca/articles/24687/Xildhibaan-Baar-Siciid-Oo-Ka-Hadashay-Natiijada-Doorashada)). After that [2021 election](/en/history/somaliland-parliamentary-election-2021/), the House had no women at all ([African Arguments, 24 January 2022](https://africanarguments.org/2022/01/how-did-somaliland-end-up-with-zero-female-mps/)), until Amina Elmi Farid filled a vacant seat in May 2023 ([Hiiraan Online, 15 May 2023](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2023/May/191290/amina_elmi_farid_receives_standing_ovation_after_becoming_first_woman_in_somaliland_s_parliament.aspx)). In December 2024 President [Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi (Irro)](/en/people/abdirahman-mohamed-abdullahi-irro/) appointed her presidential adviser on women's development ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baar_Said_Farah), citing [Caasimada Online, 15 December 2024](https://www.caasimada.net/bayle-oo-xil-sare-looga-magacaabay-xafiiska-madaxweynaha-somaliland/)). For the current House, see [Members of Somaliland's House of Representatives](/en/institutions/members-of-somaliland-house-of-representatives-2021/).

## In short

A Sanaag MP from 2005 to 2021, long the House's lone woman, who pressed for a women's quota and a rape law.

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