Alligators and an egret stand on the banks of the Bento Gomes river next to the Transpantaneira road at the Pantanal wetlands near Pocone, Mato Grosso state, Brazil, Monday, September 14, 2020. A vast swath of the vital wetlands is burning in Brazil, sweeping across several national parks and obscuring the sun behind dense smoke. (Photo by Andre Penner/AP Photo)

Entertainers perform during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on August 24, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Lisi Niesner/Reuters)

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 local boy plays football on Iracema Beach on June 11, 2014 in Fortaleza, Brazil. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo poses for a photo with Giuliana, a fan from Brazil, as he arrives with the Portuguese team at Lisbon airport to depart for the World Cup in Qatar, Friday, November 18, 2022. (Photo by Armando Franca/AP Photo)

In this photograph taken on April 1, 2015, an Indonesian resident and child walk away from an abandoned school building as Mount Sinabung erupts in Karo district on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. According to authorities about 3,500 people were displaced after the February 2014 eruption of Mount Sinabung volcano and many are still living in evacuation centers as the volcano remains active. (Photo by Sutanta Aditya/AFP Photo)

Wadha al-Sayyed, wife of captive Lebanese soldier Khaled Moqbel, protests for his release and government action, near burning tyres blocking a road in Beirut, December 15, 2014. More than two dozen members of the Lebanese security forces are being held by Sunni Islamists. (Photo by Hasan Shaaban/Reuters)

A sculptural artwork creation is displayed as part of the “Fashion in Motion: Daniel Lismore” exhibition by British multidisciplinary artist Daniel Lismore, at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Britain on August 5, 2022. (Photo by Toby Melville/Reuters)