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)

Heesco, Windsor. Born and raised in Mongolia and now living and working in Melbourne, Heesco is well known for his skill in rendering photo-realistic portraits. They speak to the viewer in a way that the subtext is enjoyable to decipher. Just what is the Blue Lady’s message? The sunglasses might mask the confronting gaze but her body language fills in the gaps. Heesco’s characters often wear traditional jewellery and clothing that remind us of his Mongolian cultural heritage. (Photo by Lou Chamberlin/The Guardian)

This photographer has a long love affair with lady liberty – and has captured it on film. The amazing pictures show the Statue of Liberty silhouetted against an array of beautiful backdrops. In some photographs she appears to be supporting the moon, in others celebrating with fireworks in the background. Here: The statue of liberty in New York City, New York. (Photo by Peter Alessandria/Caters News)

Soldiers patrol in Petion Ville, the neighborhood where the late Haitian President Jovenel Moise lived in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, July 7, 2021. Moïse was assassinated in an attack on his private residence early Wednesday, and first lady Martine Moïse was shot in the overnight attack and hospitalized, according to a statement from the country’s interim prime minister. (Photo by Joseph Odelyn/AP Photo)

Kindergarten children show off handmade floral headdress made of ginkgo leaves on December 17, 2024 in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province of China. The floral headdress is also known as Zanhua or Zanhuawei. Zanhuawei is a traditional Chinese hairstyle favored among ladies from Xunpu Village of Quanzhou in China's Fujian Province. (Photo by Tan Yunfeng/VCG via Getty Images)

A reef shell lies on a beach as the sun sets on Lady Elliot Island located north-east of the town of Bundaberg in Queensland, Australia, June 10, 2015. UNESCO World Heritage delegates recently snorkelled on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, thousands of coral reefs, which stretch over 2,000 km off the northeast coast. Surrounded by manta rays, dolphins and reef sharks, their mission was to check the health of the world's largest living ecosystem, which brings in billions of dollars a year in tourism. Some coral has been badly damaged and animal species, including dugong and large green turtles, are threatened. UNESCO will say on Wednesday whether it will place the reef on a list of endangered World Heritage sites, a move the Australian government wants to avoid at all costs, having lobbied hard overseas. Earlier this year, UNESCO said the reef's outlook was “poor”. (Photo by David Gray/Reuters)

A serviceman kisses the main icon for the Russian Armed Forces' main cathedral, delivered at the Church of Our Lady the Healer in Rostov-On-Don, Russia on May 15, 2018. The Russian Armed Forces' main cathedral is to be built in Patriot Military Park in Kubinka outside Moscow by 2020, the year of the 75th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Red Army over Nazi Germany in the 1941-45 Great Patriotic War, the Eastern Front of World War II. (Photo by Valery Matytsin/TASS)

Broadway Tower is a folly located on Broadway Hill, near the village of Broadway, in the English county of Worcestershire, at the second highest point of the Cotswolds after Cleeve Hill. Broadway Tower's base is 1,024 feet (312 metres) above sea level. The tower itself stands 55 feet (17 metres) high. The “Saxon” tower was designed by James Wyatt in 1794 in the form of a castle, and built for Lady Coventry in 1799. The tower was built on a “beacon” hill, where beacons were lit on special occasions. Lady Coventry wondered if a beacon on this hill could be seen from her house in Worcester – approximately 22 miles (35 km) away – and sponsored the construction of the folly to find out. The beacon could be seen clearly.