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)

“Woman with Umbrella in Rain” by Raimund von Stillfried. Artist: Kusakabe Kimbei (Japanese, 1841–1934), 1870s. Commercial photography studios in Meiji-era Japan were renowned for the subtlety and refinement of their coloring techniques. This hand-tinted image of a young woman caught in a heavy rainstorm achieved its naturalistic effect by knitting together multiple strands of artifice: the greenery in the foreground was a studio prop; the flaps of the kimono were suspended by thin wires to create the impression of a strong wind; and long, diagonal marks were made on the negative to suggest streaks of rain. (Photo courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Back dropped by planet Earth the International Space Station (ISS) is seen from NASA space shuttle Endeavour after the station and shuttle began their post-undocking relative separation May 29, 2011 in space. After 20 years, 25 missions and more than 115 million miles in space, NASA space shuttle Endeavour is on the last leg of its final flight to the International Space Station before being retired and donated to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Capt. Mark E. Kelly, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' (D-AZ) husband, has lead mission STS-134 as it delivered the Express Logistics Carrier-3 (ELC-3) and the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-2) to the International Space Station. (Photo by NASA via Getty Images)

“The nuclear football (also known as the atomic football, the president's emergency satchel, the button, the black box, or just the football) is a briefcase, the contents of which are to be used by the President of the United States of America to authorize a nuclear attack while away from fixed command centers, such as the White House Situation Room. It functions as a mobile hub in the strategic defense system of the United States. It is a metallic Zero Halliburton briefcase carried in a black leather “jacket”. The package weighs around 45 pounds (20 kilograms). A small antenna protrudes from the bag near the handle”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A U.S. Military officer carries the “football”, which carries nuclear launch codes, on South Lawn after returning with U.S. President George W. Bush to the White House January 7, 2002 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Highly commended birds : Crested guan by Tim Hunt (UK). ‘This photo shows a crested guan in the cloud forests of Costa Rica as it pauses while foraging on a lone branch. Due to the clouds that are so typical for this habitat, I could often only photograph the bird’s silhouette against a grey sky. But then, for a short moment only, the sun broke through the clouds, and I overexposed the image by over two stops in order to blow out the background and allow this beautifully marked bird to stand out’. (Photo by Tim Hunt/GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2015)

Tourists walk behind a faded sign warning of tsunami hazard in Khao Lak, Phang Nga province December 15, 2014. Ahead of the anniversary of the 2004 tsunami, experts and officials say key weaknesses remain across the region in the system designed to warn people of the next disaster, and get them to safety. Thailand prepares to mark the tenth anniversary of the 2004 tsunami, the deadliest on the record, that killed at least 226,000 people in 13 Asian and African countries. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

This picture taken on February 1, 2015 shows participants competing in a tofu (beancurd) wrestling competition in Fogang county, south China's Guangdong province. Participants, mostly women, fight it out in an inflatable pool which is filled with nearly two tons of fresh milk and tofu, in a promotion to attract tourists for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year holiday. The upcoming Chinese lunar new year of the sheep, which will fall on February 19 this year, marks the biggest festival of the year in China as hundreds of millions of people journey across the country to celebrate the season with their families. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)

Belarusians wearing national costumes celebrate a Pull the Kolyada Up the Oak rite in the village of Martsiyanauka, some 77 km (48 miles) east of capital Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, January 21, 2016. The merry ancient rite Pull the Kolyada Up the Oak marks the end of Orthodox Christmas celebrations in Belarus. On Jan. 21 a wheel, the so-called Kolyada, would be pulled up an oak or any old tree. The Belarusians believed that the ritual heralds a good harvest, luck and happiness for the entire year. (Photo by Sergei Grits/AP Photo)