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)

Two De Brazza's monkeys stand together at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park on June 21, 2011 in Hythe, England. Port Lympne has welcomed a host of new arrivals this year with wildebeest, colobus monkeys, gorillas and rhinos all adding to the current stock. Port Lympne and Howletts Wild Animal parks were set up by the late John Aspinall to protect and breed rare and endangered species and, where possible, return them to safe areas in the wild. The Aspinall Foundation which runs the parks also manages two gorilla rescue and rehabilitation projects in the central African countries of Gabon and Congo where they have successfully reintroduced over 50 gorillas to the wild. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

A 13-month-old chimp named Fumo carries a “Christmas present” of food treats in wrapping paper under his arm during a Christmas-themed feeding time at Sydney's Taronga Park Zoo, December 9, 2014. Fumo, meaning “chief” or “spear” in Swahili, is one of the latest additions to the zoo's successful primate breeding program. (Photo by Jason Reed/Reuters)

Dubai is now home to what has been billed as the world’s largest indoor dog park, complete with customised luxury suites, 24/7 webcams, flat screen TVs and orthopedic mattresses. Launched during Easter at Dubai Investment Park, My Second Home already has many takers with 40 of its 200 residential luxury rooms booked for summer. Here: a dog sits on its bed at My Second Home, a newly opened luxury pet resort and spa, in Dubai, April 24, 2015. (Photo by Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters)

Korean artist Seung Mo Park continues to amaze with his astonishingly crafted figurative sculptures made with tightly wrapped layers of aluminum wire based on fiberglass forms. The works shown here are part of the Brooklyn-based artist’s Human series where he recreates the delicate wrinkles and folds of clothing as well as the sinuous musculature of the human body in metallic layers remeniscent of tree rings. He’s also sculpted bicycles, musical insturments and other forms as part of his Object series.

A driver steers a lorry laden with bags of plastic bottles across a recycling yard at the outskirts of Beijing, China, August 19, 2016. As authorities try to control Beijing's burgeoning population and capitalize on skyrocketing land prices, scrap collectors say they are being pushed out despite playing a vital role in China's unique recycling ecosystem. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Yussef Saluta (R), 20, an Israeli Arab soldier from the Desert Reconnaissance battalion takes part in a drill near Kissufim in southern Israel November 29, 2016. A battalion of soldiers crawls across the desert sand with assault rifles cocked. It's a routine exercise, but these are no ordinary troops – they are Arabs who have chosen to fight for the Jewish state. (Photo by Amir Cohen/Reuters) (Photo by Amir Cohen/Reuters)