NEW DELHI: Saima Wazed, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) regional director for Southeast Asia and daughter of ousted former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, resigned from her post this week amid investigations by the UN health agency and Bangladeshi authorities into allegations of fraud and other misconduct.
Wazed’s resignation came a day after a WHO committee recommended her dismissal, the UN agency said on Thursday.
The development marks a further fallout from the political upheaval that followed Hasina’s ouster after a deadly uprising in Bangladesh in mid-2024.
Several of Hasina’s political allies have since faced criminal cases, including allegations of corruption, while the former prime minister has remained in self-imposed exile.
Wazed took office as WHO regional director for Southeast Asia in early 2024 for a five-year term. However, the agency placed her on unpaid administrative leave late last year following allegations that included financial fraud and questions over her academic qualifications.
She was initially placed on leave in July 2025 after Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission, operating under the interim government that replaced Hasina, filed charges against her in March that year. The commission accused her of fraud and forgery.
Allegations of fraud
According to a separate letter sent by Wazed’s lawyers to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on July 3, 2026, the organisation accused her of committing financial fraud in connection with travel to China and of misrepresenting her academic credentials.
The WHO also alleged that she had unlawfully acquired a plot of land in Bangladesh.
Wazed disputed that allegation, saying she had acquired the land before joining the WHO and was legally entitled to it under Bangladeshi legislation covering the families of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country’s founding leader and Hasina’s father.
In her resignation letter to Tedros, sent late on Wednesday, Wazed said she had been elected to serve the countries in the Southeast Asian region and had carried out her responsibilities sincerely.
She accused the WHO leadership of preventing her from effectively performing her duties and said she had lost confidence in Tedros’s leadership.
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Wazed also cited her financial circumstances, saying she had gone nearly a year without receiving remuneration after being placed on unpaid leave. “Since you continue to prevent me from effectively carrying out my duties, I have lost all trust and confidence in your leadership of WHO,” she wrote.
She added that her financial situation had become “untenable” and said she had therefore decided to step aside. Wazed declined to comment further on her resignation.
WHO begins transition
The WHO said its regional committee and executive board would now consider Wazed’s resignation.
A WHO spokesperson said the matter had been handled with “due regard for fairness and due process”, while also protecting the organisation’s interests and its ability to carry out its mandate. The agency had previously declined to provide details about Wazed’s case, citing confidentiality.
According to Reuters, two sources had earlier said the WHO was preparing to formally remove Wazed from office. One source said the agency planned to announce nominations for the regional director’s position on October 12, vet candidates in December and hold elections on January 24.
The WHO said on Thursday that Dr Nilesh Buddha would continue as officer-in-charge until a new regional director was appointed.
Saima Wazed’s mother, the 78-year-old Sheikh Hasina, who was sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity by Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal in November 2025, has been taking refuge in India since her ouster in August 2024 following a student-led uprising.
