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 protester scuffles with a member of Israeli security forces during a demonstration in the east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, on December 17, 2021. (Photo by Ahmad Gharabli/AFP Photo)

A Taliban helicopter takes off after bringing aid to the site of an earthquake in Gayan, Afghanistan on June 23, 2022. A powerful earthquake struck a rugged, mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday, killing at least 1,000 people and injuring 1,500 more in one of the country's deadliest quakes in decades, the state-run news agency reported. (Photo by Ali Khara/Reuters)

Tourists from the Middle East take pictures at Vrelo Bosne nature park in Ilidza near Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, August 19, 2016. They discovered mountainous Bosnia, where half the population is Muslim, after the Arab Spring which destabilized many traditional holiday destinations such as Libya, Tunisia and Egypt. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

A man salts a downtown sidewalk in Washington, Thursday, March 5, 2015, as snow begins to fall. The U.S. federal government said its offices in the Washington area will be closed Thursday because of a new round of winter weather expected in the region. The Office of Personnel Management said non-emergency personnel in and around Washington were granted excused absences for the day. Emergency employees and telework-ready employees were expected to work. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

A rusty revolver is seen near the body of a man, who police said was killed by police operatives, and two sachets of “Shabu” or methampethamine chloride were found on his pockets in Manila, Philippines August 17, 2017. (Photo by Erik De Castro/Reuters)

An Afghan man prepares tea for customers at a roadside tea shop on the outskirts of Jalalabad February 2, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/Parwiz)

“The Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon, center, exits the water during the Chicago Polar Plunge, Sunday, March 2, 2014, in Chicago. Fallon joined Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in the event. (Photo by Andrew A. Nelles/AP Photo)