An Iran fan attends the Russia 2018 World Cup Group B football match between Morocco and Iran at the Saint Petersburg Stadium in Saint Petersburg on June 15, 2018. (Photo by Dylan Martinez/Reuters)

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)

Russian soldiers run along Red Square in central Moscow on September 29, 2022, as the square is sealed prior to a ceremony of the incorporation of the new territories into Russia. Russia will formally annex four territories of Ukraine its troops occupy at a grand ceremony in Moscow on Friday, the Kremlin has announced, after Russia suggested it could to use nuclear weapons to defend the territories. (Photo by Alexander Nemenov/AFP Photo)

In this November 3, 2015 file photo, Afghan Taliban fighters listen to Mullah Mohammed Rasool, the newly-elected leader of a breakaway faction of the Taliban, in Farah province, Afghanistan. Despite US President Donald Trump’s pronouncement that there would be no talks with the Taliban following a series of deadly attacks in Kabul, officials say talks continue, but neither side trusts the other and neither believes the other negotiates independently. (Photo by AP Photo/Stringer)

Bill Moreau watches as the Black Forest fire burns near his house near Black Forest Road Tuesday afternoon, June 11, 2013, near Colorado Springs, Colo. The Black Forest Fire was one of at least three significant wildfires burning in Colorado amid gusty winds and record-breaking hot, dry weather. (Photo by Christian Murdock/AP Photo/The Colorado Springs Gazette)

A security man keeps guard during Malawi's President elect Arthur Peter Mutharika swearing in ceremony at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre on May 28, 2019, after a contentious election marred by allegations of fraud and vote-rigging. The Malawi Electoral Commission announced on Monday that Mutharika, who heads the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), had narrowly won last week's vote after an injunction barring the release of the results was lifted. (Photo by Amos Gumulira/AFP Photo)

Performers eat their lunch before the start of the New Year's Day Parade in London, January 1, 2016. (Photo by Kevin Coombs/Reuters)

An Afghan woman collects cotton buds at governmental farms in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, 20 October 2020. Afghanistan's agriculture and livestock department in Nangarhar province hire women and people in need of cash assistance to harvest cotton from their farms. (Photo by Ghulamullah Habibi/EPA/EFE)