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The World Health Organization has announced that the head of the regional agency in Southeast Asia is “vacation” according to allegations of fraud, and it has taken the unusual step to appoint a high-ranking civil servant from his Geneva headquarters as a provisional director.
Tedros Ghebreyesus, the general director, said in an email to the employees last week, which was seen by the Financial Times that he informed the regional member states about the time of the vacation for Saima Wazed, who headed the South East Asia Regional Office (Searo) based in New Delhi.
Awakened – the daughter of Sheikh HasinaThe authoritarian former leader of Bangladesh, who was overthrown by a student led by a student last August-War accused in March With fraud, falsification and abuse of power by the country’s anti-corruption commission and confronted when it returns from her post in India.
In a statement, the WHO said that Wazed was “currently on vacation” and that Catharina Boehme, General Director at the Geneva Geneva headquarters of the agency, acted as a responsible civil servant during this time.
Boehmes appointment follows a letter in the past month of the ACC, in which the WHO ask to facilitate Wazeds before the bang charging cups and to “initiate … whatever is required.
One of the allegations against them is that she illegally received a state residential order.
The WHO Has only a limited influence on its regional organizations such as Searo, which are controlled directly by the member countries. However, an international health officer said that the central authority could intervene in cases of alleged corruption. Member States can also request a choice to replace conscience.
WAZED was elected in a competition as regional director of Searo in 2023 characterized by allegations of nepotism.
Kul Chandra Gautam, a former deputy UN Secretary-General, called Wazeds Résumé “very thin” at that time and added: “If she was not the prime minister’s daughter, I don’t think she was a serious candidate.”
Wazed had said that such a nepot -economic allegations were “insulting” and she had the necessary skills for the job.
With an annual budget of more than $ 500 million, Searo plays an important role in health policy and in the programs in 11 countries that cover 2 billion people in the region.
Since Wazed’s election, however, it has been made by the decision of Indonesia in May to withdraw from Searo and to join the WHO’s Western Pacific region.
Bangladesh’s preliminary government, who took over the power after leaving Sheikh Hasina and was led by the Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, welcomed reports that were on vacation.
“We see this as an important first step in the direction of accountability,” said the FT government. “We are firmly convinced that a permanent solution is necessary to revoke one that MS removed from its position, and restore the integrity of this prestigious role and the credibility of the entire UN system.”
Wazed is accused of having used her position and political bonds to illegally separate about $ 330 million (USD 2.7 million) by the Shuchona Foundation, a non -profit organization SHE Chairs based in Bangladesh.
According to ACC officers, several banks were supposedly put under pressure to lead funds to the foundation, which caused concerns about potential conflicts of interest, abuse of power and a lack of transparency.
The authorities have confiscated some of the wazed wazed assets and are looking for their arrest by an Interpol -Red Medication. A court in Dhaka, the capital, ordered the confiscation of her apartment in the upscale Gulshan district and stated the need to prevent assets during the court proceedings.
Wazed, a psychologist and lawyer for autism awareness, did not react publicly to the allegations. She did not answer repeated inquiries from the FT for a comment.
Your brother Sajeeb was, Has released The broader corruption examinations that were politically motivated on the family and describe them as part of a “compression campaign” of the administration of Yunus.
Tulip Siddiq, the niece of Sheikh Hasina as well as a Labor MP and a close ally of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starrer, was forced to step down As an anti-corruption minister of Great Britain for allegations that she benefited from the real estate associated with the Awami League, the former government party.
Bangladesh later issued an arrest warrant for her. The lawyers of Siddiq said there were “no basis for charges against them, and it was absolutely not a truth in any claim that they received a lawsuit in Dhaka with illegal means”.
Kent Buse, professor at Monash University Malaysia, called for a revision of the election process for the regional offices of the WHO and said that such measures “may have expressed concerns about their candidacy if they were implemented”. The potential reforms included a stricter review process, greater transparency in campaign financing and integrity in order to be a guiding principle.
