WHO Regional Director Saima Wazed Resigns Amid Fraud Investigations

The daughter of the former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the WHO’s Southeast Asia regional director, Saima Wazed resigned from her post amid fraud investigations by the UN agency and Bangladeshi authorities. She stepped down on Wednesday, ending a tenure that had been due to last until 2029. She was placed on unpaid administrative leave in 2025 after facing fraud and forgery allegations in Bangladesh and an investigation by the UN health agency. Wazed’s resignation came after allegations by the WHO and Bangladeshi authorities involving her travel expenses, academic credentials and a plot of land in Bangladesh. She has denied the allegations. The WHO accused her of financial fraud related to a trip to China. Wazed, through her lawyers, said the issue involved a $901 reimbursement and was an administrative error by an assistant handling routine travel claims. She also denied claims that she had misstated her academic qualifications, saying the doctorate she referred to was honorary and that she had told WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus about it. The WHO also questioned her land purchase in Bangladesh. Wazed said she had obtained the property before joining the WHO and was entitled to it under a Bangladeshi law covering the families of the country’s independence leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina’s father. In her resignation letter to Tedros, Wazed said she had lost trust in the WHO leadership because she had been prevented from effectively carrying out her responsibilities. After nearly a year without a salary her financial situation had also become unsustainable. Wazed’s problems also reflect the wider political fallout from Hasina’s ouster following a deadly uprising in Bangladesh in 2024. Since Hasina’s removal, several of her political allies have faced criminal and corruption cases, while Hasina herself has remained outside the country. Wazed had taken charge as WHO Southeast Asia regional director in early 2024 for a five-year term. Her resignation is effective immediately, with the WHO expected to begin the process of choosing her replacement, according to Reuters’ reports.