WSM

What WSM does

WSM (Wereldsolidariteit / Solidarité Mondiale / We Social Movements) is a Belgian nonprofit association (ASBL/VZW) founded in 1974 and headquartered in Schaerbeek, Brussels, with approximately 269 employees. The organization defends the right to decent work and social protection while combating and preventing poverty and exclusion. Its work spans five functional pillars: decent work (vocational training, cooperatives, microfinance), health (mutual insurance societies), labor rights (awareness, legal assistance, solidarity campaigns), social protection (replacement-income schemes), and lobbying (national and international policy influence). WSM does not operate a proprietary technology product. Its digital footprint consists of a multilingual content website (wsm.be), a peer-to-peer action and fundraising platform (action.wsm.be), email newsletters via Mailjet, and an active presence across TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook (multiple regional pages), Twitter/X, and YouTube.

WSM operates a multi-tier network model that is its principal asset. It coordinates 94 partner organizations across 21 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and convenes the INSP!R (International Network for Social Protection Rights) network, which connects 153–166 social movements across 19–20 countries. Domestically, WSM coordinates the PCTD/CPWW Decent Work Platform, binding 4 NGOs, 2 mutualities, and 3 trade unions around a shared strategic framework. Revenue derives from three streams: individual donations (eligible for a 30% Belgian tax deduction on gifts above EUR 40), government subsidies from the Belgian Ministry of Development Cooperation subject to annual financial control, and bequests — supplemented by grants from institutional partners such as FES and CORDAID. Distribution is community-led: WSM mobilizes supporters through campaigns (e.g., Warmste Week, #PayYourWorkers, Clean Clothes), public events, advocacy at EU and international levels, and peer-to-peer fundraising challenges.

Name

WSM

Legal name

Solidarité Mondiale ASBL WSM

Website

https://wsm.be

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

WSM (Wereldsolidariteit / Solidarité Mondiale) is a Belgian nonprofit NGO founded in 1974 that coordinates 94 partner organizations in 21 countries and the INSP!R network of 153+ social movements across 19–20 countries to defend the right to decent work and social protection through advocacy, training, and policy lobbying.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Development NGO Services

NAICS

Labor Unions and Similar Labor Organizations (81393), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Peacebuilding, Conflict Resolution & Stabilization (BPAGABAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus & Resilience Programming (BPADAEAK)

Keywords

• Decent work advocacy
• Social protection rights
• International development cooperation
• Labor rights campaigns
• Civil society networks

Headquarters

HQ city

Brussels

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and charitable contributions: WSM raises funds primarily through donations from individuals, triggered by campaigns and appeals. Donors receive fiscal attestations for gifts exceeding EUR 40 per year (Belgian tax deduction of 30%).
2. Government subsidies and institutional funding: WSM receives subsidies from the Belgian Ministry of Development Cooperation and other public authorities, subject to annual financial controls.
3. Legacies and bequests: WSM accepts bequests and legacies designated through testaments.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

WSM is a Belgian international-development NGO that defends the right to decent work and social protection and combats poverty and exclusion. It does this by funding and coordinating 94 partner organizations in 21 countries, running advocacy and awareness campaigns, providing vocational training, microfinance and legal aid through partners, developing mutual health insurance schemes, and operating networks such as INSP!R (153–166 social movements in 19–20 countries) and the Belgian PCTD/CPWW platform uniting nine civil-society organizations.

Product overview

WSM (We social movements / Solidarité Mondiale) is a Belgian NGO focused on defending the right to decent work and social protection, and combating poverty and exclusion. The organization operates primarily as an advocacy and networking body rather than a technology product company. Its offerings include the main WSM website for information and donations, the action.wsm.be platform for challenge-based fundraising campaigns, the INSP!R international network connecting 153 social movements across 19 countries, the triannual WSM Magazine publication, and coordination of the Belgian Decent Work coordination platform (PCTD/CPWW) with nine civil society organizations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• INSP!R: International Network for Social Protection Rights - a global network of 153 social movements across 19 countries in Africa, Latin America & Caribbean, Asia, and Europe, focused on universal social protection

Products and services

• WSM Website (wsm.be)

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly 10,000 people provided with affordable medicine annually in Guatemala
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• PCTD / CPWW (Plateforme de Coordination Travail Décent)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWSM coordinates the Decent Work Coordination Platform (PCTD/CPWW), a network of nine Belgian civil society organizations (4 NGOs: WSM, FOS, Solsoc, Oxfam; 2 mutualities: ANMC-LCM, Solidaris; 3 trade unions: ACV-CSC International, BIS-MSI, IFSI-ISVI) united to promote and implement the decent work agenda worldwide, based on the Common Strategic Framework for Decent Work.
• INSP!R Network (International Network for Social Protection Rights)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerINSP!R connects 153 social movements across 19 countries (or 166 in 20 countries per 2021-2022 report) in Africa, Latin America & Caribbean, Asia, and Europe. Members exchange field experiences, learn from each other, and strengthen each other to claim the fundamental human right to universal social protection. WSM is described as 'connected by WSM.'
• CNCD-11.11.11 (Centre national de coopération au développement)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBelgian national NGO umbrella organization for development cooperation. WSM participates in its campaigns and is subject to its scrutiny regarding funding received through the 11.11.11 campaign.
• ITUC-CSI (International Trade Union Confederation)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal trade union confederation. WSM collaborates with ITUC and its continental branches (ITUC Africa, ITUC Asia Pacific) on labor rights advocacy.
• AIM (Association Internationale de la Mutualité)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational mutual health association. WSM works with AIM to develop strong and high-performing mutual insurance societies for affordable healthcare access.
• JOCI (Jeunesse Ouvrière Chrétienne International)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational Young Christian Workers movement. WSM collaborates with JOCI on youth employment and labor rights issues across continents.
• RIPESS (Réseau intercontinental de promotion de l'économie sociale et solidaire)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIntercontinental network for social and solidarity economy. WSM participates with RIPESS in joint actions such as the May 1, 2023 rally in Dakar alongside Senegalese trade unions.
• CCC (Clean Clothes Campaign)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational campaign for clean clothes and labor rights in the garment industry. WSM supports the campaign and campaigns under the 'Clean Clothes / Schone Kleren' branding.
• achACT (Action Consommateurs Travailleurs)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBelgian campaign for clean clothes and worker rights, focusing on the garment industry. WSM is a member and contributes to achACT campaigns and joint actions.
• Schone Kleren Campagne (SKC)majorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFlemish clean clothes campaign (parallel to achACT in Wallonia). WSM contributes to the campaign's work and coordinates the Belgian #PayYourWorkers and related initiatives.
• RAESS / ANSSE (Réseau africain de l'économie sociale et solidaire)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAfrican network for social and solidarity economy, operating across African countries.
• UEMOA (Union économique et monétaire ouest-africaine)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWest African Economic and Monetary Union. WSM collaborates on advocacy and policy engagement related to decent work in the UEMOA region.
• NTSP (Network for Transformative Social Protection)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAsia-based network focused on transformative social protection. WSM engages with NTSP through INSP!R Asia activities.
• AMRC (Asia Monitoring Resource Centre)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHong Kong-based monitoring and research resource center for Asian labor issues. WSM collaborates through INSP!R Asia.
• CSA (Confederación Sindical de Trabajadores de América)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTrade union confederation of the Americas. WSM collaborates on labor rights and social protection advocacy in Latin America.
• MMM (World March of Women)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational feminist movement coordinating actions on women's rights and economic justice. WSM works with MWM on gender and women's empowerment in the context of decent work.
• EU-LAT NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPluralist network of European movements and organizations promoting solidarity between Latin America and Europe through advocacy for participatory EU policies.
• VEF (Vereniging voor Ethiek in de Fondsenwerving)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBelgian Association for Ethics in Fundraising. WSM is a member and subject to its code of ethics and annual review of fundraising practices and financial transparency.
• HIVA-KU Leuven (Onderzoeksinstituut voor Arbeid en Samenleving)majorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerKULouvain's Research Institute for Work and Society. WSM collaborates with HIVA on research (e.g., the 2026 HIVA study on informalization in digital labor platforms), policy analysis, and knowledge sharing.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation): Global trade union confederation that WSM collaborates with directly and at continental level (ITUC Africa, ITUC Asia Pacific) on labor rights advocacy. A broader incumbent operating in WSM's labor rights space at global scale.
• ILO (International Labour Organization): UN agency setting labor standards and the recent adopter of the platform worker convention that WSM celebrated as a victory. Operates at the multilateral level in WSM's exact policy space (decent work, social protection, labor rights), making it the highest-level institutional incumbent.
• Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES): German political foundation affiliated with social democracy and a financial partner of WSM. Funds social-justice and labor-rights work globally and operates its own country offices, comparable in mission alignment with WSM's tripartite approach though at greater scale.
• CNCD-11.11.11: Belgian national umbrella for development cooperation of which WSM is a member. Operates the annual 11.11.11 fundraising campaign that partly flows through WSM, and provides a shared advocacy platform for member NGOs on development policy — a broader-incumbent coordination body in the same ecosystem.

Direct peers

• CORDAID: Dutch Catholic development organization providing institutional funding to WSM's programs and operating comparable health, social protection, and security & justice programs in fragile states. Highly comparable in scope, partner-network approach, and donor-funded institutional model.
• AIM (Association Internationale de la Mutualité): International mutual health association with which WSM works to develop mutual insurance societies in partner countries. Comparable on the social-protection-via-mutuals niche that WSM has explicitly prioritized as a programmatic pillar.
• Clean Clothes Campaign: International campaign for improved working conditions in the garment industry with which WSM partners and under whose 'Clean Clothes / Schone Kleren' branding WSM operates in Belgium. Closely comparable on the garment worker advocacy niche.
• Solsoc (Solidarité Socialiste): Belgian NGO peer also sitting in the PCTD/CPWW coordination platform. Focuses on social economy, workers' rights, and social protection in partner countries of the Global South, sharing WSM's target populations and advocacy approach.
• FOS (Fonds voor Ontwikkelingssamenwerking): Belgian social-movement-oriented NGO and fellow PCTD/CPWW member. Operates an almost identical model — partnering with civil society organizations in developing countries, mobilizing Belgian citizens, and coordinating with trade unions on decent work and social protection, making it the closest structural peer to WSM.
• Oxfam Belgium (Oxfam-Solidariteit / Oxfam-Magasins du Monde): Belgian NGO peer in the PCTD/CPWW decent work platform and a fellow CNCD-11.11.11 member. Engages in international development, advocacy, and Belgian public mobilization on similar themes (inequality, trade justice, decent work), making it a directly comparable Belgian development NGO peer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCaSLF8bEGWHnoRfIxJ62kOg
• Facebookfacebook.com/wsmbelgie
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wsm-ongo
• Instagraminstagram.com/wsm_ong
• Xtwitter.com/wsm_belgium
• TikToktiktok.com/@wsm_ongo

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about WSM