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 wearing a burka walks through a bird market as she holds her child, in downtown Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, May 8, 2022. Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers on Saturday ordered all Afghan women to wear head-to-toe clothing in public – a sharp, hard-line pivot that confirmed the worst fears of rights activists and was bound to further complicate Taliban dealings with an already distrustful international community. (Photo by Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo)

A woman pushes a child aboard a plastic basin as they wade through floodwaters brought about by Super Typhoon Noru on September 26, 2022 in San Miguel, Bulacan province, Philippines. Super Typhoon Noru made landfall in the Philippines overnight, causing widespread flooding and leaving at least five dead. High winds and heavy rains have flattened villages and have increased the threat of landslides. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)

A child wades through floodwater brought about by Super Typhoon Noru on September 26, 2022 in San Miguel, Bulacan province, Philippines. Super Typhoon Noru made landfall in the Philippines overnight, causing widespread flooding and leaving at least five dead. High winds and heavy rains have flattened villages and have increased the threat of landslides. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)

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)

The stories of a unique bond between a child and their pet are as timeless as they come, but rarely does the pet have wings. Such is the case with photographer Cameron Bloom whose son Noah happened upon a baby magpie in 2013 when the family was out walking near their home in Newport, Australia. After consulting with a veterinarian, the family learned to raise the orphaned bird, who they affectionately named Penguin.

Photographer Anna Radchenko explores this theme in her project “Reverse Side of a Mother’s Love,” where mother love becomes more than just mother-daughter relationship and causes some strange feelings. She visualizes, sadly, typical psychological problems in parent-child relationship: unrealized wishes of the parents, excessive strictness, total control and overprotection.