In Jukkasjärvi, a village a few miles east of Kiruna, the proprietors of one hotel begin planning for a winter ice festival in March. That’s when they begin collecting some 5,000 tons of ice from the River Torne in order to prepare the Icehotel, the world’s coolest place to stay. Options for overnight stay include snow rooms, ice rooms, art suites, and the Northern Lights room, all of which range from about $300 to $900 per night. But the deluxe suite’s the only way to go. These rooms come with a critical amenity: heated ensuite bathrooms and saunas. Here: A man walks into a room in the Ice hotel in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden, December 16, 2015. (Photo by Ints Kalnins/Reuters)

A petitioner with her grievances written on her clothes walks along a street in Beijing Tuesday, December 22, 2015. After months behind bars, Pu Zhiqiang, one of China's most prominent human rights lawyers, left a detention center Tuesday after receiving a suspended prison sentence in a case involving online comments critical of the ruling Communist Party. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

As the world marks the International Day of the Girl Child, women's rights activists point to progress on a wide array of issues but say more needs to be done to protect girls from child marriage, sexual assault and other forms of exploitation. Here is a selection of pictures showing the daily lives of girls across the globe, all taken by female Associated Press photojournalists. Here: In this December 14, 2015, file photo, a young clown rides in the back of a car following a procession to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. Hundreds belonging to various clown associations made their annual pilgrimage to the Basilica to pay their respects to the Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexico's patron saint. (Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)

A bomb-laden Su-25 jet at the Hmeimim air base in December 2015. Russia's lease agreement obliged Assad’s military to safeguard the perimeter of the Hmeimim base, while giving Moscow legal jurisdiction over the facilities inside. Negotiating perimeter protection from Syria’s new rulers will be vital for the Russian bases in an era of wire-controlled drones immune to jamming. (Photo by AP Photo)

A witch doctor prepares an offering for the inauguration of the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Defense of Life, prior to the World Climate Change Conference, in Tiquipaya, Bolivia, October 10, 2015. Almost 150 nations, including major emitters led by China and the United States, have submitted plans to the United Nations for curbing greenhouse gas emissions blamed by the U.N. for causing more floods, droughts and heat waves. France will host the conference in Le Bourget, near Paris, from November 30 to December 11, 2015. (Photo by David Mercado/Reuters)

A worker sweeps leaves below a historic spirit still at Suntory Holdings' Yamazaki Distillery in Shimamoto town, Osaka prefecture, near Kyoto, December 1, 2014. Nestled at the foot of wooded hills near the ancient Japanese capital of Kyoto, the Yamazaki whisky distillery feels a long way from the northerly glens of Scotch's spiritual home. Despite its unlikely birthplace, last month Yamazaki's Single Malt Sherry Cask 2013 trumped more than a thousand challengers to be named the world's best whisky by leading critic Jim Murray in his Whisky Bible 2015. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Students from Langata primary school run past riot police as they protest against a perimeter wall illegally erected by a private developer around their school playground in Kenya's capital Nairobi January 19, 2015. Riot police used teargas to disperse students at a school in Nairobi as the children protested against the potential loss of their playground. The playground was fenced off in December, during the school holidays, by a prominent developer who also claims ownership of the land. The title to the contested site is said to be in the name of Airport View Housing Limited, according to local media, with plans to use the space to build a parking lot for a hotel. (Photo by Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)

Haitian policemen arrest a demonstrator with machetes at the end of a march, in Port-au-Prince, on November 26, 2015. Supporters of Fanmi Lavalas and Petit Dessalines political parties marched to protest against the results given by the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), against the Haitian President Michel Martelly, and against the candidate of the ruling party Jovenel Moise. Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) confirmed this week that Haiti's presidential election will go to a runoff on December 27, between ruling party candidate Jovenel Moise and Jude Celestin, close to former president Rene Preval. (Photo by Hector Retamal/AFP Photo)