Saima Wazed, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Southeast Asia regional director and daughter of ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, resigned from her position on Wednesday amid fraud investigations by the UN health agency and Bangladeshi authorities, Reuters reported, citing her resignation letter.
Her resignation comes amid allegations involving financial fraud, her academic credentials and the acquisition of a plot of land in Bangladesh. Wazed, who began her five-year term as WHO’s Southeast Asia regional director in early 2024, had been on unpaid administrative leave since last year.
In her resignation letter, reviewed by Reuters, Wazed said she decided to step down after being unable to effectively perform her responsibilities.
Wazed was initially placed on leave in July 2025 after Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission, functioning under the interim government that replaced Hasina, filed charges against her in March 2025 alleging fraud and forgery.
“I was elected to the position of Regional Director in order to serve the countries in my region, which I had sincerely done,” Wazed wrote, according to Reuters. She also said she had lost “all trust and confidence” in Tedros’ leadership and pointed to the financial difficulties caused by being placed on unpaid leave. Wazed said that after nearly a year without receiving remuneration, her financial circumstances had become unsustainable, prompting her decision to step aside. The WHO also accused Wazed of illegally acquiring a plot of land in Bangladesh, according to her resignation letter seen by Reuters.
