While a number of countries have developed a national response plan for OVC, and the OVC M&E Guide (Guide to Monitoring and Evaluation of the National Response for Children Orphaned and Made Vulnerable by HIV/AIDS) provides specific indicators to monitor and evaluate the national response, national OVC monitoring systems remain weak in most countries. This is partly due to a lack of guidance on the specifics of developing M&E systems that take into account the various, sometimes-uncoordinated activities of different national sectors and actors, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations (CBOs), and faith-based organizations (FBOs). This document aims to fill that gap by illustrating steps for developing and putting into operation a system to monitor the national response for the protection, care and support of OVC. It acknowledges the efforts made by different countries across the globe to institute M&E systems and, where relevant, highlights those lessons learned. This document is not intended to be an M&E guide or operations manual, but rather aims to complement existing documents in the area of M&E of the OVC response. This document is aimed at those leading the national response for the protection, care and support of OVC. Although it varies by country, this group typically includes national governments, Ministries of Welfare, development partners, sector programme managers and civil-society partners who deliver direct services to children in need. More specifically, this document will be of most interest to those tasked with monitoring and evaluating the national response for OVC. Often, this responsibility lies with the government entity charged with developing the national plan for children (such as a national plan for OVC). The document is organized in five parts. Part 1 provides a brief overview of monitoring and evaluation. Part 2 explores why an understanding of the context within which the M&E system is developed is critical. Part 3 focuses on developing the Conceptual Framework of the M&E system for the national response for OVC, while Part 4 describes the "mechanics" of the M&E system (data flow, collection, analysis, use, and dissemination, quality control, management and capacity development). Part 5 concludes the document by discussing system piloting, M&E plan development, capacity strengthening and costing considerations. Annexes are referenced where further information is considered to be useful.