A YOUNG girl pretending to be at risk of poverty and child exploitation left Irish shoppers on Grafton Street speechless this week.
Charity Plan International wanted to find out if busy Christmas shoppers would stop and give their time to help a lost nine-year-old girl on one of the busiest streets in the Irish capital.
What the shoppers didn't know is that they were being secretly filmed by a number of hidden cameras as part of a social experiment.
The young girl is seen looking lost and wandered aimlessly around Grafton Street before waiting and approaching passers-by.
Scroll down to see the video...
Those that did stop were left gob-smacked when the girl told them: "My mum could no longer afford to feed me.
"She wanted me to marry a man three times my age so she could look after my younger brother and sisters."
One stranger asked where the young girl came from and was given this reply: "I went to collect water but some men followed me. I was scared and I ran."
Another shopper replied: "My goodness, we have to get help for you."
The aim of the video is to highlight how women and children, especially young girls, are most vulnerable and 14 times more likely to die in a humanitarian crisis than a man.
Young girl refugees are more likely to be forced to marry young, experience violence and to be denied an education.
Plan international is a child-centred, community focused development organisation.
It helps displaced people in Jordan, Egypt, Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad providing refugees with education, protection for children and improved sanitation for families in order to combat the spread of disease.
CEO of Plan Ireland, Paul O'Brien spoke of how the plight of vulnerable people around the world cannot be ignored.
"Just over the population of the UK have been forced to leave their home," he said. "More than 65 million. Over half of them are children. We cannot look away from this crisis.
"Think for a moment of a girl who is lost, alone and afraid. A girl who has seen more pain and violence than we could even begin to imagine. It does not matter who she is or where she is from."
Plan International is now urging everyone to be more award of the issues facing vulnerable children around the world.
You can find more details about Plan International here.
What how Irish shoppers in Dublin respond to a vulnerable lost girl below...
See More: Charity, Dublin, Featured, Lost, Plan International
