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 member of North Korean military holds flowers to be laid at the bronze statues of the late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il at Mansu Hill Grand Monument in Pyongyang, North Korea, Monday, December 17, 2018. North Koreans are marking the seventh anniversary of the death of leader Kim Jong Il with visits to the statues and vows of loyalty to his son, Kim Jong Un. (Photo by Dita Alangkara/AP Photo)

Just Dance 2017 performance at Ubisoft E3 2016 – Day 2 at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Tuesday, June 14, 2016, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Dan Steinberg/Invision for Ubisoft/AP Images)

Indian Students of Rabindra Bharati University at the BT Road Campuses Celebrates the Holi, Color Festival on March 09, 2017 in Kolkata.Holi, the popular Hindu spring festival of colours is observed in India at the end of the winter season on the last full moon of the lunar month, and will be celebrated on March 13 this year. (Photo by Debajyoti Chakraborty/NurPhoto)

Russian servicemen stand next to a Russian Yars RS-24 intercontinental ballistic missile system before a rehearsal for the Victory Day parade, with the Moscow International Business Center also known as “Moskva-City” seen in the background, at a range in Moscow, Russia, May 5, 2016. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

People pose for photos in the snow in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., December 2, 2019. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

A fisherman with a close bond to cormorants uses the flock of birds to catch big fish in Li river in Guilin, China. The aquatic birds can be seen perching on a bamboo raft before swooping into the calm water to grasp hold of prey. (Photo by Julia Wimmerlin/Solnet News & Photo Agency)

Cardi B attends the Fanatics Super Bowl Party at College Football Hall of Fame on February 2, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Shareif Ziyadat/WireImage)