Two Bulgarian tourists pose in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris on their last day in the capital on March 24, 2014. (Photo by Franck Fife/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)

A female soldier takes part in a training for women at the Tolemaida Military Air Base in Tolemaida, Colombia, on May 16, 2023. The last time the Colombian Army enlisted women in their ranks was in 1993. Now, 30 years on, more than 1,200 women voluntarily joined the military service in the country. (Photo by Raúl Arboleda/AFP Photo)

A tourist takes photographs of the Louvre Museum in Paris, France on July 3, 2022. (Photo by Benoit Tessier/Reuters)

US actress Vanessa Hudgens poses upon her arrival for the 25th annual Elton John AIDS Foundation's Academy Awards Viewing Party on February 26, 2017 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Tibrina Hobson/AFP Photo)

The Lake of Lights at Talkin Tarn lake near Brampton in Cumbria, England on October 22, 2017 – where hundreds of lights in the surrounding woodland represent a cherished memory of a relative friend or loved one no longer with us. (Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty Images)

A mahout splashes water on his elephant on a hot summer day in Ahmedabad, India on April 8, 2019. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

A member of the samba school of the Grupo Especial Academicos do Grande Rio parade during the Carnival celebration at the Marques de Sapucai sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, early 04 March 2019. The samba schools of the Rio de Janeiro Special Groups began their parades on 03 March at the sambadrome, considered the main attraction of the carnival in Brazil. (Photo by Marcelo Chello/EPA/EFE)