Saima Wazed quits WHO job after graft conviction

Saima Wazed, the World Health Organization's Southeast Asia chief and daughter of ousted Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina, has resigned, the WHO said Friday.

The WHO said Wazed resigned from her post on Wednesday. It said the organisation was already looking to end her employment because the Regional Committee had recommended that her appointment as regional director be terminated.

Wazed was convicted in absentia by a Dhaka court in November for corruption and sentenced to five years in prison. She has denied guilt.

She has been on leave since 2025, after Bangladesh's anti-graft commission opened cases against her and her family over an alleged land grab of lucrative plots in a suburb of Dhaka.

Hasina was overthrown in 2024 by a student-led uprising. She was found guilty of crimes against humanity in 2025, also in absentia, and sentenced to be hanged. She remains in hiding in India.

Bangladesh has requested Hasina's extradition. New Delhi has said the request is under examination. Hasina has said she will return to Bangladesh of her own choice in December, despite the death sentence she faces.