BACKGROUND
With a membership close to 1.4 Million, the Blantyre Synod of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian is an important social and economic force in the development of Malawi. In the response to the plight of many vulnerable and disadvantaged people in the society, the Synod has embarked on many development programmes in order to fulfill its objectives of addressing spiritual, moral, social and economic needs of mankind.

The BSDC was established as a proactive response to the growth and diversification which the Synod is going through. The decision to establish the BSDC has been necessitated by both external and internal pressure for the synod to expand its development activities which seek to alleviate the poverty which is rampant within the communities under its jurisdiction.

MISSION STATEMENT
To coordinate the development, actions and activities of the Blantyre Synod in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness in every aspect of service delivery so as to achieve the highest development impact on the targeted beneficiaries within the community it serves.

VISION
To be efficient, responsive and reliable in its collaboration with other parties within and outside the establishment in the execution of development initiatives aimed at mitigating the impact of poverty and underdevelopment in the less fortunate and marginalized members of society in Malawi, thereby translating the gospel of love and care into practical reality.

OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES
The BSDC is guided by the following objectives:

• To demonstrate a strong commitment to working together with the communities and assist them in their efforts to determine their development priorities.
• To solicit assistance from international partners who share in this commitment and are willing to pursue the goals identified by the local communities and at the pace that is dictated by local conditions.
• To work in a transparent and accountable manner for the benefit of the communities, donor partners and other stakeholders by ensuring that funds are appropriated for the desired purposes.
• To enhance communication between beneficiaries, programme management teams and BSDC in a bottom up approach that encourages true empowerment of the communities.
• To entrench the policy decentralization in a sustainable manner that devolves decision making powers with commensurate accountability on the execution of the programmes to the Project Manager and field staff.
• To build relationships between development partners that no only transform but also build capacity among communities to enable them to take responsibility of their own meaningful and sustainable social and economic development.
• To demonstrate a strong commitment to excellence in all its activities and its interactions with other parties.

The BSDC intends to build upon the strong partnership that has existed over the years between Blantyre Synod and both international and local donors with whom it has collaborated with on many development projects. Its primary goal is to consolidate the hitherto fragmented development activities of the Synod and through coordinated and focused approach achieve better rationalization of the services it provides. In return the development interventions will enhance the impact on the targeted beneficiaries thereby adding more value to their livelihood.

As the socio political and economic landscape of the country continues to change, the BSDC will respond by building capacity to act proactively in response to the development challenges associated with this growth in a coordinated manner.
The Synod departments within the jurisdiction of the BSDC include:

• Education Department
• Health and HIV/AIDS
• Church and Society
• Building and Maintenance
• Estates Department
• Chigodi Women’s Training Centre
• Mulanje Likuni Phala
• Domasi Lukuni Phala
• Disaster and Relief
• Water and Sanitation
• Communications Department

CURRENT PROJECTS
The following projects are currently being implemented by BSDC:

• Mbewa Village Water and Sanitation Project in Mulanje
• School Feeding Programme in partnership with Scottish International Relief Malawi
• Water Supply Project at Chigodi Women’s Training Centre, Blantyre
• St Mathews Water Supply Project, Balaka