A boy collects drinking water from a hand pump in Kutubdia, Bangladesh on March 30, 2016. Kutubdia is one of many islands affected by some of the fastest recorded sea-level rises in the world. The island has halved in size in 20 years. (Photo by SIipa/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

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 woman clutches a teddy bear covered in red paint to symbolize blood during a government-approved, anti-violence rally held in the Kazakh city of Almaty on November 26, 2023. Organized by the New People youth movement, roughly 300 people took part. The rally was dubbed “Say No To The Animal World”, with organizers likening violent people to animals. (Photo by Petr Trotsenko/Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

A girl eats a watermelon slice while at a school building where Syrians – displaced from the area of Ras al-Ain by the Turkish offensive on the northeast – are staying in the city of Hasakah, on June 30, 2020. (Photo by Delil Souleiman/AFP Photo)

A young Sikh boy shouts religious slogans during a procession ahead of the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak in Jammu, India, Wednesday, November 21, 2018. The birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism and first Sikh guru, will be marked on Nov. 23. (Photo by Channi Anand/AP Photo)

Portraits single nominee: Dakar fashion, by Finbarr O’Reilly. Curious residents and a street vendor selling material look on as models Diarra Ndiaye, Ndeye Fatou Mbaye and Malezi Sakho wear outfits by the Senegalese designer Adama Paris in the Medina neighbourhood of Senegal’s capital, Dakar. (Photo by Finbarr O’Reilly/World Press Photo 2019)

Kelsey Smith of New Zealand gets her stick caught on the shorts of Hollie Pearne-Webb of England during Women's Semi Final Hockey match between England and New Zealand on day eight of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast Hockey Centre on April 12, 2018 on the Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

Boys play with water as they celebrate Myanmar's New Year Water Festival of Thingyan in Yangon, April 13, 2016. (Photo by Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters)