NEW DELHI/LONDON — Saima Wazed, the World Health Organization’s regional director for Southeast Asia and daughter of ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has resigned following fraud investigations by the U.N. health agency and Bangladeshi authorities, according to her resignation letter reviewed by Reuters.
Wazed, who began a five-year term in early 2024, was placed on unpaid administrative leave late last year after Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission filed charges against her in March 2025 alleging fraud and forgery under an interim government that replaced Hasina following a deadly uprising in mid-2024. The WHO accused her of committing financial fraud related to travel to China and misrepresenting academic credentials, while also alleging she illegally acquired a plot of land in Bangladesh, claims she has denied.
In her resignation letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Wazed said she had “lost all trust and confidence” in his leadership and cited an “untenable” financial situation after nearly a year without pay. She maintained that the land was acquired before joining the WHO and was entitled under a Bangladeshi law covering families of independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina’s father.
Through lawyers in a July 2026 letter, Wazed denied travel fraud, calling a $901 reimbursement issue an administrative oversight by an assistant, and said she holds an honorary doctorate for autism work in Bangladesh and had been clear about this qualification with Tedros.
Two sources said the WHO was planning to formally remove Wazed and would announce nominations for the role on October 12, vet applications in December, and hold elections on January 24. Regional directors are elected every five years by member states and play a key role in outbreak response, emergencies, and adapting WHO policies to local conditions across countries including Bangladesh and India.