Women who led
Baar Said Farah (Baar Siciid Faarax)
Baar Said Farah is a Somaliland politician. Elected for Sanaag in 2005, she was for years one of only two women, and later the only woman, in Somaliland's House of Representatives. She campaigned for a women's seat quota and an anti-rape law. In December 2024 President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi appointed her adviser on women's development.
Baar Said FarahBaar Siciid Faarax · Baar Saed Farah
- Known as one of
- Women who led
- Era
- Rebuilding without a state, 1991 to 2012; Who holds power, 2012 to now
- Sources
- 14 sources
Who is she?
Baar Said Farah is a Somaliland 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). She represented Dhahar, in Sanaag (BBC Somali, 18 July 2016). Wikipedia gives her clan as Warsangali (same Wikipedia page, citing the APD 2005 election report).
Elected in 2005
In the 2005 parliamentary election, 246 candidates ran for 82 seats. Only seven were women, and two were elected; she was one of them, for the Sanaag region (Interpeace and APD, "A Vote for Peace", September 2006). In December 2010 she was named to a UDUB party sub-committee on liaison and electoral commission affairs (Haatuf, 21 December 2010).
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).
- 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).
- 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).
- 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; Berbera Today, 31 July 2018).
2021 and after
She welcomed the peaceful conduct of the May 2021 vote (Hadhwanaag News, 5 June 2021). After that 2021 election, the House had no women at all (African Arguments, 24 January 2022), until Amina Elmi Farid filled a vacant seat in May 2023 (Hiiraan Online, 15 May 2023). In December 2024 President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi (Irro) appointed her presidential adviser on women's development (Wikipedia, citing Caasimada Online, 15 December 2024). For the current House, see Members of Somaliland's House of Representatives.
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.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Baar Said Farah · en.wikipedia.org
- BBC Somali, 18 July 2016 · bbc.com
- the APD 2005 election report · somalilandlaw.com
- Interpeace and APD, "A Vote for Peace", September 2006 · interpeace.org
- Haatuf, 21 December 2010 · haatuf.net
- Hiiraan Online, 21 January 2013 · hiiraan.com
- Geeska Afrika, 30 April 2013 · geeska.net
- Somaliland Parliament, Hansard 75, 20 December 2015 · somalilandparliament.net
- Somaliland Current, 13 May 2016 · somalilandcurrent.com
- Berbera Today, 31 July 2018 · berberatoday.com
- Hadhwanaag News, 5 June 2021 · hadhwanaagnews.ca
- African Arguments, 24 January 2022 · africanarguments.org
- Hiiraan Online, 15 May 2023 · hiiraan.com
- Caasimada Online, 15 December 2024 · caasimada.net
Baar Said FarahBaar Siciid Faarax · Baar Saed Farah
- Known as one of
- Women who led
- Era
- Rebuilding without a state, 1991 to 2012; Who holds power, 2012 to now
- Sources
- 14 sources
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