Since the initial setting up of the Unit for the Rights of the Child (URC) in 1992- now known as the Child and Family Protection Services (CFPS) - it has been recognized that the principal constraint in working with abuse and neglected children was the unavailability of alternative care institutions in the Maldives. Although Education and Training Centre for Children (ETCC) for boys has been established for some time, it facilitates juvenile delinquents and those deprived of primary care. There was no alternative care institution for children below 9 years of age. For this reason, an alternative care home for children below the age of 9, ‘Kudakudhinge Hiya’ was established by the Ministry of Gender and Family with much gratified support from Crown Company Pvt. Ltd., with the aim of providing a safe and secure environment for orphans and vulnerable children deprived from other means of primary care. Kudakudhinge Hiya is located at the Villingili ward of Male’ and was officially opened by His Excellency President Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom and Madam Nasreena Ibrahim on 11th May 2006. However the home’s operations were started on 7th October 2004 under the Ministry of Gender and Family prior to the opening of this new building.