CRC/C/15/Add.204 page 7 Alternative care and adoption 35. The Committee welcomes the State party’s efforts to place orphans with their extended families while providing these families in particular female-headed households, with financial assistance. The Committee also welcomes the information provided during the dialogue that the criteria for potential adoptive families are not as narrow as presented in the State party report (para. 169). The Committee welcomes the State party’s efforts to phase out large-scale orphanages and other institutions and to place children in group homes only as a last resort, but remains concerned that existing services are insufficient to provide for the large number of orphans, including AIDS orphans, and unaccompanied refugee or displaced children. 36. The Committee recommends that the State party continue to strengthen and expand its efforts to place children in need of alternative care with their extended families and to promote adoption of these children when appropriate. The Committee also recommends that the State party continue and expand as necessary its programme for the establishment of children’s group homes, and seek international assistance in this regard. Child abuse 37. The Committee notes with concern that there is no information available on the various forms of child abuse in the family and that legislation does not provide for effective protection of children from sexual and physical abuse. 38. The Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Reform its legislation on abuse in the family to expressly prohibit sexual and physical abuse; (b) Undertake studies on domestic violence, ill-treatment and abuse (including sexual abuse within the family) in order to adopt effective policies and programmes to combat all forms of abuse; (c) Develop an effective national system for receiving, monitoring and investigating complaints and, when necessary, prosecuting cases, in a manner which is child-sensitive and ensures the victim’s privacy; (d) Set up a comprehensive nationwide response system to provide, as appropriate, support and assistance to both victims and perpetrators of family violence, rather than only intervention or punishment, and which ensures that all victims of violence have access to counselling and assistance for their recovery and reintegration, while preventing stigmatization of victims of abuse; (e) Seek technical assistance from, among others, UNICEF and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in this regard.