New Delhi: Saima Wazed, the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Southeast Asia head and daughter of ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, resigned from her post on Wednesday (September 9), following fraud allegations by the UN agency and Bangladesh authorities, news agency Reuters reported.Wazed took office as the WHO’s Southeast Asia regional director in early 2024 for a five-year term. However, she was placed on unpaid administrative leave late last year, after being sent on leave first in July 2025 as Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission, under an interim government led by Muhammad Yunus that replaced Hasina, filed charges against her alleging fraud and forgery.In her resignation letter, as seen by Reuters, she blamed the UN agency for preventing her from carrying out her duties, and cited financial untenability due to the year-long unpaid leave.Wazed was accused of “committing financial fraud in relation to her travel to China” and of misrepresenting her academic credentials, according to a separate letter from her lawyers to the WHO on July 3, Reuters reported. The WHO also alleged she had illegally acquired a plot of land in Bangladesh. However, Wazed alleged that she acquired the land before she joined the WHO and was entitled to it under the Bangladeshi law that covered the families of the country’s independence leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina’s father.Hasina has been living in Delhi since August 2024, after she was forced to flee following an uprising by students, and she faces extradition and an arrest warrant in Bangladesh. Wazed too has been in Delhi since November 2023, after she was appointed UN’s WHO regional director for South East Asia.‘Have lost trust’Wazed has denied the fraud allegations against her.In her resignation letter sent to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus late Wednesday, Wazed wrote, “I was elected to the position of Regional Director in order to serve the countries in my region, which I had sincerely done. Since you continue to prevent me from effectively carrying out my duties, I have lost all trust and confidence in your leadership of WHO.” “Moreover, after nearly one year without any remuneration following your decision to place me on unpaid leave, my financial situation has become untenable. In these circumstances, I am choosing to step aside,” she said.The Indian Express reported that Wazed had previously sought an independent inquiry into WHO action against her. She had reportedly raised the matter with Ghebreyesus several times and complained that the decision to place on administrative leave was taken ‘without following due process’.Wazed’s appointment as the WHO’s regional head had been under the scanner from the very beginning. There were nepotism charges against her of having used her mother’s influence during the campaign. She was also accused of providing false information on her academic record, allegedly violating Section 468 of the Bangladesh Penal Code (forgery for the purpose of cheating), and Section 471 (forging a document).Citing two sources, Reuters reported that the UN agency was already planning to formally remove Wazed. One of them said the WHO would announce nominations for the role on October 12, vet applications in December and hold elections on January 24.Wazed is a licensed school psychologist in the US. As the South-East Asia regional director, Wazed was mandated to direct international health work across 11 countries, an area with a population of over two billion people.