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)

Indian Hindu sadhus (holy men) from the Juna Akhara take part in a religious procession towards Sangam area, during the first “royal entry” for the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad on December 25, 2018. (Photo by Sanjay Kanojia/AFP Photo)

A Sadhu or a Hindu holy man performs to receive money from pilgrims at a makeshift shelter, before heading for an annual trip to Sagar Island for the one-day festival of “Makar Sankranti”, in Kolkata, India, January 10, 2018. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)

Hotel ushers pose for a photo at Tiananmen Square as delegates attend the second plenary session of the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, China, March 9, 2018. The CPPCC is the top advisory body of the Chinese political system and runs alongside the annual plenary meetings of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), together known as “Lianghui” or “Two Meetings”. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

A student from the General Yermolov Cadet School performs with models of swords during celebrations of Maslenitsa, or Pancake Week, a pagan holiday marking the end of winter, in southern city of Stavropol, Russia, March 6, 2019. (Photo by Eduard Korniyenko/Reuters)

Twenty-four-year-old Maryam Aghayee makes hyper-realistic baby dolls acting as surrogates for some Iranian families who are apprehensive of having more children. “It has been about three or four months since I started this work”, says Maryam in Tehran, Iran on October 7, 2020. “After making my second doll, many orders have been coming in. The second doll was much more realistic than the previous one. After making my second doll, I said that from now on I can take customer orders. I did not intend to start a business from the beginning because it was a hobby, but after the second doll, the demand for these kinds of dolls increased, customers want to have such dolls”. (Photo by Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)

A professional training in explosive disposal is held in Nanning, Guangxi, China on 18th February, 2021. (Photo by Top Photo Corporation/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A girl holds a blossom in her mouth while posing for photos under cherry blossom trees at Wuhan University on March 11, 2021 in Wuhan, China. Tourists come to view cherry blossoms at the university during the spring. Wuhan University, first founded in 1893, is widely known as one of the most beautiful universities in China. (Photo by Getty Images/China Stringer Network)