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At the UN Special Assembly in 2000, a crucial development target was set for the new millennium: to halve the number of people living in extreme poverty by 2015.

Nearly half the population of Africa falls into this category; a higher proportion than any other continent.

According to present trends, however, Africa will not meet its UN target. For this to be reversed, immediate and far-reaching action is required.

If poverty is Africa's worst problem, malnutrition is its most devastating effect. Around 16,500 children under the age of five die each day through lack of food.

The average living wage in the pooret regions of Africa is $1 a day.

16,500 children could be fed for £10,000 a day: £4M a year.

Maybe double it or treble it with delivery and corruption costs.

Treble it again.

DFID has a budget of £2.2Bn a year.

Very interesting book on the "last 45 dictators" and developing activity around making dictatorship itself a crime against humanity or a war crime by former US Ambassador Mark Palmer.

With Rwanda, Congo, Liberia and Yugoslavia officials facing war crime charges in The Hague then it should allow both greater democracy and greater openness in providing humanitarian aid into closed or poverty-stricken societies.

Africa sadly lags behind almost every other area of the world in these matters even after the end of the Cold War.

And even enlightened self-interest in preventing failed state and spreading democracy seems a failing of the Community of Democracies to date.

One thing that's been lost in all the kerfuffle over Obama as the first black US president is his close family links to Africa and Kenya in particular.

With strong US involvement in West Africa and Djibouti - for the frist time - ever - Obama's presidency will undoubtedly mark a strong emphasis on Africa.

Algeria for example hopes to combat a 45% unemployment rate throughmassive $200Bn investment in tourism to increase visitors from 1.8M to 25M inthe next 20 years: largely from the EU and US.

Africa will increasingly be linked to the USA.

The World Health Organisation confirms now over 40,000 cases of cholera and 2,000 deaths.

Not far off all the deaths in Northern Ireland from terrorism.

But from a Victorian disease.

A glimmer of hope is that Robert Mugabe and senior officials now face war crimes allegations and trial.

Interesting to see that the same issue of war crimes on Saturday caused the Israeli government to instigate a ceasefire in Gaza within an hour.

And loudly proclaim that it had never deliberately targeted civilians or children.

The UN and ICC (International Criminal Court established 2002) pose a serious threat to many dictators: Congo, former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and now the Middle East and Africa are viable targets to instigate peace and democracy.

And all only 30 years after the first genocide trial of a deposed dictator in Equatorial Guinea.

I think we're rapidly approaching a time when failure to provide effective humanitarian aid - as well as dictatorship and coups - to your own people will be viewed as tantamount to a war crime in targeting civilians.

Rather ridiculous though that the Western powers are unable to remedy Victorian diseases over 50 or 100 years after they were eradicated in UK.

The last 40 dictatorships are looking increasingly isolated.

DFID has 2 budgets of £1.2B each.