Canadian fashion model Winnie Harlow at Atlantis The Royal's Dolce&Gabbana x Ounass takeover at Cloud 22 on October 05, 2025 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Cedric Ribeiro/Getty Images for Atlantis The Royal/ Dolce&Gabbana x Ounass)

Beatriz Hatz, of the U.S., competes at Women's Long Jump -T64 final at the Stade de France stadium, during the 2024 Paralympics, Saturday, August 31, 2024, in Paris, France. (Photo by Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo)

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus takes a selfie with fans after winning against Madison Keys of the United States during their women's singles match of the China Open tennis tournament, at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, Wednesday, October 2, 2024. (Photo by Achmad Ibrahim/AP Photo)

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)

“The Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya is a waterfall located in southern Africa on the Zambezi River between the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe. A famous feature is a naturally formed pool known as the Devil's Pool, near the edge of the falls, accessed via Livingstone Island in Zambia. When the river flow is at a certain level, usually during the months of September to December, a rock barrier forms a pool with little current; some people swim in the pool. Occasional deaths have been reported when people slip over the edge of the rock barrier”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Devil's Pool – Victoria Falls, Zambia. (Photo by Siena College Study Abroad)

The Borobudur temple seen illuminated during Vesak Day, commonly known as “Buddha's birthday”, at the Borobudur Mahayana Buddhist monument on May 6, 2012 in Magelang, Indonesia. Buddhists in Indonesia celebrate Vesak at the Borobudur temple annually, which makes it the most visited tourist attraction in Indonesia. Vesak is observed during the full moon in May or June and the ceremony centers around three Buddhist temples, whereby pilgrims walk from Mendut to Pawon, ending at Borobudur. The stages of life of Buddhism's founder, Gautama Buddha, which are celebrated at Vesak are his birth, enlightenment to Nirvana, and his passing. (Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

Growing cities, overuse of fertilizers and factory wastewater have degraded China's water supplies to the extent that half the nation's rivers and lakes are severely polluted. China aims to spend $850 billion to improve filthy water supplies over the next decade, but even such huge outlays may do little to reverse damage caused by decades of pollution and overuse in Beijing's push for rapid economic growth. Photo: Fishermen row a boat in the algae-filled Chaohu Lake in Hefei, Anhui province, June 19, 2009. (Photo by Jianan Yu/Reuters)

This picture taken on September 3, 2014 shows a man taking pictures of floodwater released from the Three Gorges Dam, a gigantic hydropower project on the Yangtze river, in Yichang, central China's Hubei province, after heavy downpours in the upper reaches of the dam caused the highest flood peak of the year. Eleven people died and 27 others are missing after torrential rains battered southwest China's Chongqing, a municipality in the upper reaches of the Three Gorges Dam, causing thousands of houses to collapse, state media said. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)