Sophia Fernandes, a member of the Kalunga quilombo, the descendants of runaway slaves, dons traditional afro braids, during the culmination of the week-long pilgrimage and celebration for the patron saint “Nossa Senhora da Abadia” or Our Lady of Abadia, in the rural area of Cavalcante in Goias state, Brazil, Saturday, August 13, 2022. Devotees celebrate Our Lady of Abadia at this time of the year with weddings, baptisms and by crowning distinguished community members, as they maintain cultural practices originating from Africa that mix with Catholic traditions. (Photo by Eraldo Peres/AP Photo)

Pilgrims dressed in traditional Bavarian clothes attend the traditional Georgi horse riding procession on Easter Monday in heavy snowfall, in the southern Bavarian town of Traunstein April 6, 2015. Since the early 16th century, farmers have taken part in the pilgrimage to bless their horses. This tradition, the “Georgiritt”, goes back to the legend of Saint George, the horsemen's patron saint. (Photo by Michael Dalder/Reuters)

A Iranian man walks with a sheep he bought at a market in the capital Tehran on September 12, 2016, as Muslims mark the first day of the Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice) holiday. Muslims across the world celebrate the annual festival of Eid al-Adha, or the festival of sacrifice, which marks the end of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca and commemorates prophet Abraham's readiness to sacrifice his son to show obedience to God. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)

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)

Syrian boys play with plastic guns on the first day of the Muslim religious festival of Eid al-Adha in al-Dana in Syria's rebel-controlled Idlib region, near the border with Turkey, on August 11, 2019. Muslims across the world are celebrating the first day of the Feast of Sacrifice, which marks the end of the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca and commemorates prophet Abraham's sacrifice of a lamb after God spared Ishmael, his son. (Photo by Aaref Watad/AFP Photo)

A toque macaque is eating flowers in the water at the pilgrimage site in Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka, on January 13, 2024. The toque macaque (Macaca sinica), a reddish-brown-colored Old World monkey, is endemic to Sri Lanka, where it is known as the rilewa or rilawa. It is named for the whorl of hair at the crown of its head, which resembles a brimless toque cap. (Photo by Thilina Kaluthotage/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Mohamed Gamal Abdel Nasser, a workshop owner, tests primus stoves known as “Bagour” in Arabic, in Cairo, Egypt, May 11, 2016. (Photo by Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters)

Students walk to school on the first day of their new school year in Giza, south of Cairo, Egypt September 25, 2016. (Photo by Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters)