Artists perform during the 137th Nice Carnival parade in Nice, southeastern France, on February 19, 2022. The Carnival takes place until February 27, 2022 on the theme “King of animals”. (Photo by Valery Hache/AFP Photo)

Two cats watch a mouse walking on the pavement in Kuwait City on March 8,2017. (Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat/AFP Photo)

Japanese chorus girls appear to be drilling in military tactics atop their theater building as they perform salutes, June 30, 1937. The officer is from the Japanese regular army and says the girls display more rhythm in their drills than do the regular troops. (Photo by AP Photo)

Jackie Barajas of Chula Vista dressed as Loki at Comic-Con in San Diego, USA on July 22, 2017. (Photo by K.C. Alfred/San Diego Union-Tribune via ZUMA Press/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A reveler in costume laughs during the “Cordao do Boitata” street party in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, February 24, 2019, one of the many parades before the official start of Carnival on March 1. (Photo by Leo Correa/AP Photo)

Aerial photo taken on April 20, 2018 shows the view of advection fog above Qingdao, a coastal city in east China' s Shandong Province. (Photo by Lu Hui/Xinhua News Agency/Eyevine)

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)

Novice DSLR (Digital single-lens reflex camera), 2nd Place. “Smile of a Friend”, American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) in Jucaro, Cuba. (Photo by Antonio Pastrana/The Ocean Art 2018 Underwater Photography Competition)