Afghanistan is confronting a perfect storm of overlapping crises, the UNs outgoing envoy warned the Security Council on Wednesday, as an Afghan womens rights advocate told the body that Taliban policies amount to gender apartheid which are suffocating a whole generation of girls. Women and girls shut outCentral to the crisis, Ms. Otunbayeva stressed, are sweeping Taliban restrictions on Afghan women and girls. Gender apartheidUN Photo/Loey FelipeRoza Otunbayeva (on screen), Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan briefs the Security Council. Meanwhile, more than two million Afghans have returned from Iran and Pakistan in the past two years, stripping the economy of $1 billion in remittances and straining local services. UN Photo/Loey FelipeRoza Otunbayeva (on screen), Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan briefs the Security Council.UN Photo/Loey FelipeOCHA/Charlotte CansMore than 23 million people in Afghanistan require humanitarian assistance.