Total humanitarian assistance ^ aid for emergencies and relief ^ reached an all-time high in 2003 at $7.8 billion ^ a rise of more than $2 billion compared with the previous year. In real terms (taking exchange rates and in£ation into account), humanitarian assistance from the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) members rose by 23% in 2003. For the previous four years, aid for humanitarian assistance had been steady at around $5.7 billion a year