In the nearly two years since Afghanistan’s de-facto authorities seized power, the “ambitions, dreams and potential” of girls and women have perished, a rights activist has told the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

And in an exclusive interview with UN News’s Nancy Sarkis, Afghan civil rights activist Shaharzad Akba explains that the country’s women and girls talk of “being buried alive, breathing, but not being able to do much else”.

Now in exile, Ms. Akba works with the non-profit organization Rawadari to help Afghan women and girls by raising awareness about restrictive Taliban policies, that have been likened to gender apartheid by the UN-appointed independent expert for Afghanistan.

This post was originally published on UN News – Global perspective Human stories.