Sheikh Hasina's daughter Saima resigns as WHO Regional Director

Saima Wazed, daughter of the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, has resigned as regional director of the World Health Organization’s South-East Asia region amid investigations by the WHO and Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission into allegations of fraud and other irregularities.

Saima Wazed submitted her resignation to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Tuesday night, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

She took charge of the WHO’s South-East Asia region in early 2024 for a five-year term but was placed on unpaid administrative leave late last year. She had first been put on leave in July 2025. The Anti-Corruption Commission filed a case against her in Bangladesh in March 2025 over allegations of fraud and forgery.

According to a letter from Wazed’s lawyers to the WHO dated July 3, the organisation was investigating allegations involving financial irregularities related to a trip to China and misrepresentations concerning her academic qualifications.

The WHO had also raised an allegation concerning the unlawful acquisition of a land plot in Bangladesh. Wazed has denied all the allegations.

In her resignation letter, Wazed said the land in question had been allocated to her under a special law applicable to members of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s family before she joined the WHO. She said a $901 expense related to the China trip resulted from an administrative error by an assistant.

Wazed also rejected the allegation concerning her academic credentials, saying she had previously explained to the WHO director-general that an honorary doctorate she received was in recognition of her work on autism.

She said nearly a year without pay had placed her in an unsustainable financial position and prompted her decision to resign. Wazed also said she had lost confidence in the WHO and alleged that she had been prevented from effectively carrying out her responsibilities as regional director.