A child wearing a costume runs up the steps during Purim celebrations at the Coral Temple synagogue in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, March 20, 2019. Children put on fancy costume dress joining dozens of believers from Romania's Jewish community who attended a Purim service to celebrate the Jews' salvation from genocide in ancient Persia, as recounted in the Book of Esther. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)

Five-year-old Julia cuddles a free teddy bear at a toy adoption station in a branch of Dobbies in Wallington, UK on December 4, 2023. Research shows almost half of parents (46%) in Britain plan to spend less on their children’s Christmas presents this year, and 47% believe their child would not mind receiving a preloved toy as a gift. (Photo by Michael Leckie/PA Wire Press Association)

A clown nose is placed on a child's face during a protest opposing violence against women after the murder of Venezuelan actress and clown Julieta Inés Hernández Martínez in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, January 8, 2024. The body of Hern·ndez, who had been missing since Dec. 23 while traveling by bicycle, was found in Presidente Figueiredo city, near Manaus in Amazonas state. (Photo by Bruna Prado/AP Photo)

Artist Christopher Lovell counts himself lucky to have been a child of the 80s. The toys, cartoons and movies of the era left him spellbound, fueling his imagination. He finds this inspiration allows him to express himself very naturally through his art. Having developed a deep interest in fantasy and sci-fi, he spent his childhood and teen years immersed in every aspect of creativity he could access.

A child parades on a float during the Bun Festival on May 25, 2015 in Hong Kong, Hong Kong. One of Hong Kong's most colourful cultural celebration event, Cheung Chau Bun Festival, will be staged on 25 May 2015 (Monday) till 26 May 2015 midnight (Tuesday). This festival has over 100 years of history. Every year, thousands of people descend upon the tiny island for The Piu Sik (Floating Colours) Parade, Lucky Bun (Ping On Bun) and The Bun Scrambling Competition, the ancient custom during the festival. (Photo by Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images)

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 group of dust covered child labourers gather for a portrait in the brick kiln in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, 22 February 2015. Bleak photos identify the children working their fingers to the bone in Nepalís brick kilns. Photographer Jan Mˆller Hansen documented the conditions of the brick kilns in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal between 2013 and 2016 while he lived and worked in the area. Jan estimates between 150,000 and 175,000 people are employed in the 200 brick kilns littering the Kathmandu Valley. (Photo by Jan Moeller Hansen/Barcroft Images)

A mother raise her glass filled with 2017 Beaujolais Nouveau wine as she holds her child in a colored hot water “wine bath” at Hakone Kowakien Yunessun hot spring resort in Hakone, west of Tokyo, Japan, 16 November 2017, on the day of the Beaujolais Nouveau official release. With Germany and the United States, Japan is a major market for the Beaujolais Nouveau. (Photo by Franck Robichon/EPA/EFE)