Desk News || Saima Wazed, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) regional director for Southeast Asia and daughter of ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, resigned on Wednesday amid fraud investigations by the UN agency and Bangladeshi authorities, according to her resignation letter seen by Reuters.Wazed’s resignation highlights how the fallout from Hasina’s ouster following a deadly uprising around mid-2024 has extended beyond her political allies to members of her family. Many of Hasina’s allies face criminal charges, including allegations of corruption in Bangladesh, while others, including Hasina, live in self-imposed exile.Wazed took office as WHO’s Southeast Asia regional director in early 2024 for a five-year term. The WHO placed her on unpaid administrative leave late last year. She was first sent on leave in July 2025 after Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission, under the interim government that replaced Hasina, filed charges against her in March that year alleging fraud and forgery.According to a separate letter from Wazed’s lawyers to the WHO dated July 3, 2026, and seen by Reuters, the agency accused her of committing financial fraud related to travel to China and misrepresenting her academic credentials. Wazed has denied the allegations.The WHO also alleged that she had illegally acquired a plot of land in Bangladesh, according to her resignation letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Wazed said she had acquired the land 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.‘Loss of trust’: WazedIn her resignation letter, sent to Tedros late on Wednesday, Wazed said she had sincerely served the countries in her region since being elected to the position.“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 also said that after nearly a year without remuneration following the decision to place her on unpaid leave, her financial situation had become untenable. “In these circumstances, I am choosing to step aside,” she wrote.Wazed declined to comment further.The WHO did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Last month, it said Wazed was on leave but declined to comment further on her case, citing confidentiality.WHO may hold fresh election in JanuaryTwo sources said earlier that the UN agency was planning to formally remove Wazed. One of them said the WHO would announce nominations for the position on October 12, vet applications in December and hold elections on January 24.The sources declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.Regional directors are among the world’s most influential health policy officials. Their responsibilities include responding to outbreaks and emergencies and adapting WHO policies to local conditions. They are elected every five years by member states, which include Bangladesh and India in the Southeast Asia region.In the July letter, Wazed’s lawyers denied the travel fraud allegation, saying it resulted from an administrative oversight by an assistant processing routine reimbursement requests and involved $901. Regarding the credentials allegation, Wazed said she held an honorary doctorate for her work on autism in Bangladesh and had been clear with Tedros about the qualification.Source: Reuters