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Tackling the grinding poverty found in the world's poorest countries is perhaps the greatest challenge facing humanity in the 21st century.

In sub-Saharan Africa today, a combination of factors - poor climate, bad geography, perennial famines, water shortages, pervasive illiteracy, chronic diseases, smouldering conflicts, rampant corruption, dysfunctional government, economic mismanagement, weak institutions, tribalism, strangling bureaucracy, lack of property rights, dilapidated infrastructure, paltry overseas aid, unpayable debts, restrictive trade barriers - are blamed for keeping hundreds of millions of Africans in abject poverty.

For most Africans every day is a constant struggle eking out an existence from the soil as their families have done since the dawn of history. Yet in other parts of the developing world governments grappling with the same set of problems are managing to tackle them whilst, at the same time, sowing the seeds for economic growth which is the prerequisite for leaving poverty behind.

It is time then for the international community to face the unpalatable fact that the world can no longer be divided up into developed and developing nations. The continuing desperate and destitute state of most of the countries comprising sub-Saharan Africa demands the introduction of a third category - stagnating nations (stagnations) - where governments for whatever reasons are unable or unwilling to implement the policies to promote the economic development needed to underwrite social advancement.

So what is needed to bring fundamental change to an impoverished subcontinent with, for the most part, sterile leadership?

Surely the starting point has to be to scrutinise the quality of governance in sub-Saharan African countries in order to ascertain which governments are actively trying to work for their people and those which clearly have an alternative agenda. This is an issue that the international community has failed to confront for far too long and in the process has done the people of Africa no favours.

Secondly governments in the rich world should start to target increases in overseas aid at poor countries where progress in governance is seen to be being made and continues to be made. Only this time, in order to maximise its potential, aid has to be granted in a much more constructive format.

Encouraging positive change from within poor countries with the promise of practical international support in return would soon see life-changing advances delivered to destitute people across the progressive countries of sub-Saharan Africa putting pressure on others to follow suit.

On the website, under the various issues - FOOD, WATER, HEALTH, EDUCATION, TRADE etc. - just1WORLD examines the present situation in each category in Africa whilst under STATE OF THE WORLD we set out what life is like for most Africans today. Then in RECOMMENDATIONS, in a league table on governance, we put all sub-Saharan governments to the test and go on to suggest how the information contained in this table coupled with more progressive use of overseas aid should go a long way to help the people of Africa enjoy the basics of life which has been denied them for far too long.

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