Saima Wazed, WHO’s South East Asia Regional is attending the World Health Assembly in Geneva, and presiding over official events, even while her home country, Bangladesh, has a warrant outstanding for her arrest. 

The warrant follows the filing of charges in March against Wazed in March by Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) alleging fraud, forgery and misuse of power, including in connection with her controversial 2023 campaign for election as WHO South East Asia Regional Director.

After being elected in October 2023, Wazed commenced her five-year term in February 2024.  

Following the flight of her mother, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, from Bangladesh last August, Saima Wazed remained in India on a diplomatic passport. In January, Bangladeshi authorities have called for her extradition, but that went unheeded in light of her diplomatic immunity.

In the latest developments, Bangladesh police were due to report on 25 May on their progress in executing an arrest order against Sheikh Hasina and her daughter Wazed, on one of the pending charges, related to allegations of land fraud, a national media outlet reported on Sunday.  

Country won’t acknowledge RD 

Bangladesh’s Ministry of Health has reportedly refused to work with Wazed since October 2024, bypassing her office and communicating directly with WHO Headquarters.  For instance, in a 19 March letter, obtained by Health Policy Watch, a Ministry of Health advisor asked WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to directly appoint a new Representative  to the country’s WHO office – a task that normally would be filled by the RD. 

“Her appointment has been the subject of widespread public scrutiny, due to allegations of nepotism and potential irregularities.  Right now, she is facing investigations by the Anti-Corruption Commission of Bangladesh,” stated the 19 March letter to the Director General from Nurjahan Begum, a Ministry of Health advisor, sent just before the formal charges against Wazed were filed.

“Consequently, we find ourselves in an embarrassing position working with her,” the letter further stated.  “A direct nomination from WHO Headquarters of Dr Jamsheed for the position of WHO Representative to Bangladesh would help us to get rid of the embarrassment linked to the incumbent RD. We would greatly appreciate if you allow us to communicate directly to HQ on issues of concern in the future.”

Last week in Geneva, Wazed attended a closed door member state Planning, Budget and Administration meeting (PBAC), and then led a weekend briefing for SEARO member states in Geneva on the WHA agenda – posted on the WHO SEARO LinkedIn page.  

WHO: no comment on investigations while in process

Asked why Wazed was continuing to act in her role even after the police investigation had been concluded and formal charges had been filed against her in Bangladesh, a WHO spokesperson said: 

“We are aware of allegations relating to the period before Ms Wazed took up her position as Regional Director for South East Asia, including in respect of activities during the election campaign for that position. 

“We understand that these allegations are the subject of investigation by the relevant authorities in Bangladesh.  We do not comment on such investigations or any consequential legal processes while they are ongoing.”

The charges against Wazed, who took office as Regional Director in January 2024 following her election by SEARO member states, are the culmination of an ACC investigation that began in January 2025, as reported by Health Policy Watch.

Already in 2023, Wazed’s election campaign was shadowed by charges that her influential mother, former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, had used her influence to gain her daughter’s election to the post. Then, only a few months later after Wazed took office, widespread protests prompted Hasina’s abrupt resignation and flight from the country in August 2024.

Second case recently involving a WHO Regional Director  

The charges against Wazed follow on a crisis involving former Western Pacific Regional Director Takeshi Kasai, who was put on administrative leave by the Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in August 2022 after initial allegations of misconduct against the RD surfaced, and following preliminary investigations by WHO’s Office of Internal Oversight Services (IOS).

The IOS investigation culminated in a recommendation that he be dismissed. WPRO member states then voted to recommend his contract be terminated, culminating in his dismissal by the WHO Executive Board. 

In the case of Wazed, however, the charges against her have emanated from her home country – as compared to internal WHO staff complaints against Kasai. 

And high-level WHO officials typically enjoy diplomatic immunity from prosecution, unless those privileges are waived or revoked by the Director General. 

Waivers of immunity are not uncommon, in fact, for small violations by diplomats, like traffic accidents. Waiver of immunity for more serious offenses is a much bigger, and largely unprecedented occurrence – at least for WHO, expert sources told Health Policy Watch. 

“If Bangladesh requests a waiver of the RD’s immunities to have her prosecuted in her country and the DG accepts, he can waive her immunities and probably place her on administrative leave without firing her,” one expert said.  

“Immunities are not an intrinsic component of the position, they are again a protection of an international function against interference by states, but they can and should be waived to facilitate the course of justice if it doesn’t compromise WHO’s interests.  

At the same time, the political context of the accusations against Wazed, whose mother is a deposed former head of state, add layers of complexity to any DG decision – along with the basic legal principle of “presumption of innocence until there is a final conviction.”.  

While the new, interim Bangladesh government has reportedly asked the DG privately  to take action on various occasions – it has so far hesitated from making the affair public. 

And no other SEARO member states have addressed the issue publicly either – and it’s not. clear that they will. Notably, Wazed’s mother, Sheikh Hasina, historically maintained close political ties with the Indian government, which is a powerful member of the 11-nation SEARO region, as well as hosting the WHO Regional Office in Delhi.  

Regional impacts?

Even so, there are signs that the issue is making waves in SEARO. In an unprecedented move, Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest country, recently decided to transfer its regional affiliation from SEARO  to the Western Pacific Region (WPRO), a move due to be confirmed at the current World Health Assembly session. Reportedly, Timor-Leste may be considering a similar move.

A WHO spokesperson denied that Indonesia’s request, initiated in June 2024, had anything to do with Wazed, citing “the epidemiological situation in the country (which is similar to others in the WHO Western Pacific Region) and the geographical location of Indonesia (proximity to others in the WHO Western Pacific Region)”. 

But the extract of the SEARO Regional Committee meeting of October 2024 highlights the strenuous appeals by SEARO’s other 10 member states to Indonesia to reconsider or delay its decision, including Bangladesh, which asked it to delay a final decision “ keeping in view the bilateral and regional interests.”  

There are meanwhile reports that Bangladesh could seek to leave SEARO to join the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMRO) – another heavy blow for the SEARO region that has the fewer number of member states in the entire WHO regional constellation. 

Uncharted territory 

Overall, independent legal experts call the Wazed case “uncharted” territory, and different from the case brought against WPRO’s Kasai, which emanated from internal allegations brought against him by other WHO staff, during his tenure as RD. 

“In this case, we have a difficult interface between actions at the national level against her as a Bangladeshi national (and daughter of the former PM), and her status as an elected RD within WHO, in particular taking into account the rather collusive culture within SEARO with a lot of mutual deference among states and a strong power imbalance between the few big powers like India (and in a lesser way Bangladesh) and the many small and more vulnerable countries like Bhutan, Timor Leste or the Maldives.” said one experienced analyst who requested anonymity.  

“As a WHO staff member, the RD is protected by diplomatic immunities precisely to shield her from political interference from her country or any other countries. The fact that her election campaign may have been influenced by her mother doesn’t mean that she is breaching WHO’s rules and regulations once she has been regularly nominated by the whole Regional Committee. And frankly political maneuvering is the order of the day in RD nomination campaigns.  WPRO offers even worse examples and that is one of the original sins of the WHO constitution and maybe of some reluctance to really address this case.” 

A credibility crisis for WHO

At the same time, critics inside the Organization and out, have also said that the optics of Wazed’s case bode ill for the organization, at a time when it is already navigating stormy waters: a $2.3 billion 2026-27 funding shortfall, increasing geopolitical tensions, and growing skepticism among Member States about institutional impartiality. 

In a period of reform, the case of the SEARO RD, following on from that of WPRO’s crisis, raises long-standing questions about the transparency and efficacy of the current process for electing WHO Regional Directors – who may be chosen on the basis of their national affiliation and political connections, as compared to administrative competencies. 

And in the case of acute crises, such as the one seen now, the questions raised are even more serious.  

“The presence of a Regional Director under criminal investigation—disavowed by her own country, rejected by others, and linked to serious human rights concerns—undermines WHO’s very foundations: neutrality, legitimacy, and trust,” said one critic, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. 

“To preserve institutional integrity and regional stability, WHO should immediately place Saima Wazed on administrative leave pending the outcome of judicial processes. This is not about guilt or innocence—it is about governance, ethics, and safeguarding WHO’s future. If WHO fails to act decisively now, it risks complicity in a case that blends authoritarian impunity with multilateral decay.”

Image Credits: WHO, WHO SEARO/LinkedIn.