Iris scanners are being used to pay for food in the supermarket of a dust-swept refugee camp in Jordan which houses 80,000 Syrians - half of them children - to cut fraud and boost efficiency for the more than $US6.5 billion ($A8.7 billion) spent on helping the lives of those upended by Syria's civil war.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley was visiting the Zaatari refugee camp and stood metres away as a young Syrian refugee - skull and jaw wrapped in bandages - stared nonchalantly into the shop's black box scanner which identified him, charged his account and sent him on his way.
The boy had no idea Haley was there watching on, but she later touted the technology as key to keeping a tab on the aid money the United States contributes to the camps.
One dozen babies are born in the Zaatari camp everyday and 35 per cent of marriages involve a child under the age of 18, UNICEF, the UN's child welfare agency says, highlighting the economic hardship families in the camp face.
Many of the younger children wander unsupervised through the camp, where gusts of dust occasionally reduced visibility to just a few feet as Haley's motorcade rolled through the streets.
"We're the No. 1 donor here through this crisis. That's not going to stop. We're not going to stop funding this," Haley said from the camp.
"The fact that I'm here shows we want to see what else needs to be done."
Haley has pledged the US will increase support, but her message has been diluted by US President Donald Trump's own vow to put "America First," his planned budget cuts and hardline position on admitting refugees.
But she returned to this theme repeatedly during her visit to Jordan, and went on to inspect boxes of peas, tuna and canned meat stacked shoulder-high in a truck bound for nearby opposition-held parts of Syria.
"This is all in the name of our Syrian brothers and sisters," Haley told aid workers.
"We want you to feel like the US is behind you."
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