A Palestinian horseman rides on the beach at sunset a few hours prior to the new year's celebrations, west of in Gaza city on December 31, 2018. (Photo by Mahmud Hams/AFP Photo)

Anti-pollution protesters wearing traditional costumes and contemporary gas masks ride bicycles in the Qingming Grand river park in Kaifeng, Henan Province, China on January 1, 2017. The Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau extended an “orange alert” for heavy air pollution for three more days. (Photo by SIPA Asia/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

The “EMIEW3” robot (R) demonstrates communicating with a visitor during a press preview in Tokyo on April 8, 2016. Japanese electronics giant Hitachi unveiled its humanoid customer service and guidance robot “EMIEW3” and “remote brain” robotics IT platform. (Photo by Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP 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)

Katie Loynes of the Blues attempts to mark the ball during the AFLW Preliminary Final match between the Carlton Blues and the Fremantle Dockers at Ikon Park on March 23, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Mike Owen/Getty Images)

Valik Vladimirovich plays dressed as a soldier in Stoyanka outskirts Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, May 30, 2022. (Photo by Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo)

A girl splashes water over a boy amidst soaring temperatures at the Shati camp for Palestinian refugees in Gaza City on July 17, 2023. (Photo by Mohammed Abed/AFP Photo)

A Palestinian boy carries dates from palm trees during harvest season in southern Gaza September 25, 2016. (Photo by Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)