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)

“Farmer reading his farm paper”. Coryell County, Texas, September 1931. (Photo by George W. Ackerman)

P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture (if available; this principle works anywhere on the site AvaxNews).

Jose Sabas Gomez pastes eyelashes to a statue of El Jesus Nazareno in his workshop in Apastepeque, El Salvador March 9, 2016. Sabas is one of a small number of artists still working on traditional religious art in El Salvador. According to him, there used to be more workshops engaged in the work of restoring statues of saints, but only four remain today as the labor-intensive craft is no longer a popular choice of profession. (Photo by Jose Cabezas/Reuters)

Lazar and his sister Andjelka sit by a candle in their home in the eastern Serbian town of Majdanpek, December 4, 2014. Electricity workers in Serbia struggled through snow, ice and treacherous terrain on Thursday to restore electricity to an eastern town left shivering without power, heating or running water for a fourth day. (Photo by Marko Djurica/Reuters)

People perform during the Archstoyanie 2023 festival in the village of Nikola-Lenivets, Kaluga region, Russia on July 29, 2023. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

Young Legong dancer portrait, Ubud, Bali on October 25, 2023. While the childrens' parents are out working, in pursuits including farming, fishing and clothes making, their offspring spend the long sunny days making their own fun, and as these pictures show not a minute is wasted. (Photo by David Lazar/Animal News Agency)

Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz is presented with the trophy by Catherine, Princess of Wales after he defeated Novak Djokovic in straight sets on Sunday, July 14, 2024. It was only Kate’s second public appearance this year following her cancer diagnosis. (Photo by Aaron Chown/PA Wire)

Ukraine's Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk reacts during the women's triple jump final at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia on March 20, 2022. (Photo by Bernadett Szabo/Reuters)