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 girl wearing a Santa hat surfs at Bondi Beach on December 25, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. December is one of the hottest months of the year across Australia, with Christmas Day traditionally involving a trip to the beach and celebrations outdoors. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)

Girls in Han costumes pose for a photo with blooming cherry blossoms at Yuyuantan Park during Qingming Festival holiday on April 4, 2022 in Beijing, China. Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day, falls on April 5 this year. (Photo by Zhao Naiming/VCG via Getty Images)

A Sri Lankan Christian girl wears a Santa hair band and a face mask as a precaution against the coronavirus as she arrives at a church to attend the Christmas mass in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, December 25, 2020. (Photo by Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo)

A girl poses in antlers ahead of a curfew on pub in Nottingham, a city in central England’s Midlands region on September 21, 2020 as Freshers' Week got underway. Revellers were also pictured out in Birmingham, which was plunged into a local lockdown amid a surge in coronavirus cases. (Photo by Ashley Kirk/The Sun)

A Japanese girl participates in a calligraphy contest to the celebrate the New Year in Tokyo January 5, 2015. Over 3,000 calligraphers, having qualified in country wide competitions throughout Japan, took part in the annual contest to celebrate the new year. (Photo by Issei Kato/Reuters)

“One innovative artist has created quirky artwork which re-imagines classical paintings with the faces of famous modern day cover stars such as Angeline Jolie. Multimedia producer Eisen Bernard Bernardo, 28, from Los Baños, Philippines, has created the clever works for his series called “Mag + Art”, where he takes photos of celebrities from magazine covers and carefully places them over images of people in famous classical paintings”. – Caters News. Photo: Quirky Magazine covers: Keira Knightley and the girl with the pearl earring. (Photo by Eisen Bernard Bernardo/Caters News)

A girl jumps to touch cherry blossoms in full bloom in Fussa, outskirts Tokyo, Japan, 05 April 2014. Temperatures being very constant made blossoms to keep full bloom for holiday makers. (Photo by Kimimasa Mayama/EPA)