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)

In this photo taken on Saturday, January 26, 2019 photo, rescued flamingo chicks have access to water at a centre after being rescued from a dried out dam in Kimberley, South Africa. A special airlift for thousands of baby flamingos is under way in South Africa as drought has put their breeding ground in peril. A reservoir that hosts one of southern Africa's largest flamingo populations is drying up. (Photo by AP Photo/Stringer)

A couple buy a sugar-coated Chinese haw to a child at the Qianmen pedestrian shopping street, a popular tourist spot in Beijing, Tuesday, January 3, 2023. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)

Team China performs during the team free routine artistic swimming competition at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Sunday, October 8, 2023. (Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)

Judges watch athletes during the women's individual compact NH 5km competition at the Nordic Combined World Cup in Ramsau, Austria, Saturday, December 16, 2023. (Photo by Matthias Schrader/AP Photo)

Bernabe Zapata Miralles of Spain serves to Novak Djokovic of Serbia during their Men's Singles match at the 2023 US Open Tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on August 30, 2023. (Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP Photo)

Tourists watch roaring torrent carrying a large amount of yellow sediment at the Hukou Waterfall on the Yellow River on August 15, 2024 in Yan'an, Shaanxi Province of China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

A riot policeman punches Greek photojournalist Tatiana Bolari during a demonstration in Athens' Syntagma (Constitution) square October 5, 2011. Police officers attacked several members of the press covering protests, injuring at least two members of the media. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)