South African maidens wrap themselves in blankets as they head to a ritual bath in a local river on September 5, 2014 at the eNyokeni Royal Palace in Nongoma in the KwaZulu-Natal region ahead of the 13th anniversary of the Reed Dance (uMkhosi woMhlanga) celebrated by the Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithin. As part of the ceremony, the young women dance bare-breasted for the king, each carrying a long reed, deposited later as they approach the King and is a cultural celebration that promotes respect for young women, and preserves the custom of keeping girls as virgins until marriage. (Photo by Marco Longari/AFP 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)

In this handout image provided by Parks Australia, thousands of red crabs are seen walking in a drain on November 23, 2021 in Christmas Island. The annual migration of red crabs begins with first rains of the wet season on Christmas Island, usually around October or November. Millions of the red crabs make their way across the island to the ocean to mate and spawn. (Photo by Parks Australia via Getty Images)

It's a 30-day-old Echidna baby, known as a “puggle” – one of only 24 ever bred in captivity. The proud parents are Tippy and Pickle of Australia Zoo. The tiny baby, whose s*x has not yet been identified, hatched from a soft egg and will continue to develop and nurse inside Tippy's warm pouch. (Photo by Australia Zoo/Rex/Sipa Press)

A man watches a wave hit a rock pool at Curl Curl beach as large swell hits the East Coast of Australia on June 6, 2016 in Sydney, Australia. Torrential rain over the weekend saw streets and homes flooded while wind gusts up to 120km per hour brought down trees and powerlines. A king tide has also seen beachside homes evacuated on Sydney's northern beaches as large waves erode the coast. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

A camel yawns as a tourist checks images on her camera following a ride on a camel safari alongside the Pacific Ocean on Lighthouse Beach, north of Sydney, December 4, 2014. For 25 years camel rides on this beach have given visitors to Australia's holiday coast a rare experience available only in a handful of locations in the country. Australia's long history with the “ships of the desert” goes back to the 1800s when they were imported from Afghanistan and India for use as transportation across Australia's vast deserts before being released into the wild following their replacement by motorised transport. (Photo by Jason Reed/Reuters)

The Vattenfall Solar Team car “Nuna” from the Netherlands competes in the Challenger class on Day 2 of the 2019 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge at Elliott on October 14, 2019 in Elliott Australia. Teams from across the globe are competing in the 2019 World Solar Challenge – a 3000 km solar-powered vehicle race between Darwin and Adelaide. The race starts on the 13th of October in Darwin in the Northern Territory and travels the Stuart Highway to Port Augusta and then via Highway 1 to finish in the City of Adelaide in South Australia. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images for SATC)

Competitors make their way up Heartbreak Hill during the 2022 City to Surf on August 14, 2022 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images)