A demonstrator is detained by riot police during a protest, in La Paz, Bolivia on November 21, 2019. Bolivia's interim President Jeanine Anez asked Congress Wednesday to approve a law that would allow for new elections, after deadly unrest following the resignation of Evo Morales and the disputed October 20 ballot. (Photo by Marco Bello/Reuters)

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 photojournalist is silhouetted by the sunset as a lightning strike at a resort affected by Saturday's tsunami in Carita, Indonesia, Tuesday, December 25, 2018. Christmas celebrations traditionally filled with laughter and uplifting music were replaced by somber prayers for tsunami victims in an area hit without warning following a volcanic eruption, leaving hundreds of people dead and thousands homeless in disaster-prone Indonesia. (Photo by Fauzy Chaniago/AP Photo)

“Haile Selassie I (23 July 1892 – 27 August 1975), born Tafari Makonnen, was Ethiopia's regent from 1916 to 1930 and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. The heir to a dynasty that traced its origins to the 13th century, and from there by tradition back to King Solomon and Queen Makeda, Empress of Axum, known in the Abrahamic tradition as the Queen of Sheba. Haile Selassie is a defining figure in both Ethiopian and African history.

Haile Selassie is revered as the returned Messiah of the Bible, God incarnate, among the Rastafari movement, the number of followers of which is estimated between 200,000 and 800,000. Begun in Jamaica in the 1930s, the Rastafari movement perceives Haile Selassie as a messianic figure who will lead a future golden age of eternal peace, righteousness, and prosperity. He himself remained an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian throughout his life”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Negusa Negasti, Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie I, known as “Lord of Lords”, “The Conquering Lion of the tribe of Judah”, “Light of the world”, “Elect of God”, in full ceremonial regalia following his coronation. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Palestinians flee areas of Rafah amid renewed Israeli strikes, southern Gaza Strip, 28 May 2024. More than 36,000 Palestinians and over 1,400 Israelis have been killed, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), since Hamas militants launched an attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip on 07 October 2023, and the Israeli operations in Gaza and the West Bank which followed it. (Photo by Haitham Imad/EPA)

Members of Siam Classic Dance Studio perform for onlookers at Haymarket on January 21, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. The Lunar New Year or Spring Festival marks the transition of the Chinese zodiac sign from one animal to the next. 2023 sees in the Year of the Rabbit, which begins on January 22. In Chinese culture, the Rabbit is a symbol of longevity, peace and prosperity. The festival is celebrated in Australia by the country's significant Chinese-origin minority, who follow much of the same traditions as the Chinese diaspora in the rest of the world. (Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

An aerial view shows the Amazon rainforest at the Bom Futuro National Forest near Rio Pardo in Porto Velho, Rondonia State, Brazil, September 3, 2015. The town of Rio Pardo, a settlement of about 4,000 people in the Amazon rainforest, rises where only jungle stood less than a quarter of a century ago. Loggers first cleared the forest followed by ranchers and farmers, then small merchants and prospectors. Brazil's government has stated a goal of eliminating illegal deforestation, but enforcing the law in remote corners like Rio Pardo is far from easy. (Photo by Nacho Doce/Reuters)

An injured NATO soldier lies on the ground following a suicide car bomb attack that targeted foreign military vehicles in the Afghan capital Kabul on June 30,2015. A powerful blast hit downtown Kabul on June 30 as a suicide car bomber targeted foreign military vehicles, officials said, with casualties feared. The blast came on the main road to the airport, around 500 meters (550 yards) from the US embassy and near a base for foreign troops.“It was a suicide car bomber targeting a convoy of foreign forces in Kabul”, interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediq said. (Photo by Wakil Kohsar/AFP Photo)