On 18 February 2021, the LabCoP M&E Sub-Community of Practice held its second session that unpacked the fundamentals of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and its importance in viral load (VL) monitoring. The use of VL data is essential for patient-level and program-level decision making. VL data is often unavailable, delayed, or underutilised, hindering monitoring interventions for VL improvement and coverage. An effective VL M&E system should have a clear map of how data flows from one source to the other and how it is captured. This introductory competency-based webinar covers the essentials of M&E by looking at indicators of data services and how to collect and report routine VL data. The session also delves into the development of an M&E plan and system in different settings. The presentation was made by public health specialist, Dr Getachew Kassa, a Senior Technical Advisor at the International Centers for AIDS Care and Treatment Program (ICAP at Columbia University). The interactive session took the participants through the components of an M&E system, demonstrated how to measure the existing status of the VL M&E implementation process, and how to set goals to improve the M&E implementation plan. This session contained periods of knowledge check, where participants were allowed to respond to in-session polls. The information shared here enables one to read the interpretation of data and use it as a guide to further understand the aim of VL scale-up and utilization of VL results. This webinar is a generic M&E introductory session that builds the understanding of the participants in the upcoming M&E Sub-Committee of practice series. Please follow the links here to view the recorded ECHO session and download the presentation slides.