The name "Nagaad" is a Somali word meaning "after hardship and difficulties, we have come
to rest in peace". The name symbolizes the painful moments the women went through
both during the war and post conflict Somaliland.

The foundation of Nagaad came in the wake of the second nation-wide peace conference in Hargeisa 1996-97, in which all political, and traditional leaders participated. The purpose of the conference was first to bring to an end the civil conflict that broke out in Somaliland in 1994, and at the same time to elect the president and the members of the House of Representatives. Subsequently, women were left out and not invited to the conference.