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 woman poses with a grenade launcher at a weapons exhibition during festivities marking Marines Day in St.Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, November 24, 2018. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

Santa Claus reacts as (L) Tami McEleney and (R) Patrice Conner whisper in his ear at the King of Prussia Mall, United States' largest retail shopping space, in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, U.S., December 8, 2018. (Photo by Mark Makela/Reuters)

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)

Carine Louis-Jean, 22, poses for a photograph in her destroyed house after Hurricane Matthew hit Jeremie, Haiti, October 17, 2016. “The roof of my house is completely gone and some of walls were destroyed. I have lost everything I had, but I thank God that I have a friend who is letting me stay at her house. I could say I'm lucky, because none of my family died during the hurricane, but I do not think I'm lucky”, said Louis-Jean. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

A child gets his head shaved by a Buddhist monk during a ceremony to prepare children to live as Buddhist monks for three weeks at Jogyesa Temple on May 09, 2023 in Seoul, South Korea. As part of the celebration of Buddha's birthday, young children are annually invited to become Buddhist monks for a three-week period. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

This photo taken on July 13, 2023 shows a woman wearing traditional Uyghur attire posing for photos in the Old Kashgar tourist area in China's northwestern Xinjiang region. Chinese travellers throng the bazaars of old Kashgar, munching mutton kebabs and soaking up heavily commodified Uyghur culture – part of a government push to remould troubled Xinjiang into a tourism paradise. (Photo by Pedro Pardo/AFP Photo)

Eddy the badger is pictured as Nicanor goes to leave water and fruits for the animals affected by the fires, in San Buenaventura, Bolivia on November 26, 2023. (Photo by Claudia Morales/Reuters)