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These individuals refer to themselves as the "lifeboat crew". Following losing their jobs when foreign assistance underwent reductions in the past months, a collective of committed professionals chose to establish their own rescue package.

Refusing to "dwell on sadness", a former economist, along with equally dedicated past team members, initiated efforts to save some of the crucial initiatives that were at risk after the funding decreases.

At present, close to 80 initiatives have been preserved by a matchmaking service run by the economist and additional ex- team members, which has secured them in excess of $110 million in new funding. The group behind the resource optimization project effort estimates it will benefit 40 million people, including many infants and toddlers.

Following the office shutdown, spending was frozen, thousands of employees were laid off, and global initiatives either ended suddenly or were left limping toward what the leader calls "termination points".

The former staffer and a few co-workers were reached out to by a philanthropic organization that "wanted to understand how they could optimize the utilization of their limited resources".

They built a selection from the cancelled projects, pinpointing those "providing the most critical assistance per dollar" and where a new funder could feasibly step in and maintain operations.

They soon realised the requirement was wider than that first foundation and commenced to reach out to further funding sources.

"We called ourselves the rescue team at the start," states Rosenbaum. "The vessel has been collapsing, and there are insufficient emergency options for all initiatives to be saved, and so we're trying to truly protect as many babies as we can, place as many onto these rescue options as possible, via the projects that are delivering aid."

The initiative, now working as part of a international policy center, has obtained financial support for numerous programmes on its roster in in excess of 30 regions. Several have had original funding returned. Nine were could not be preserved in time.

Funding has originated from a mix of charitable organizations and private benefactors. Many choose to be unnamed.

"These donors stem from diverse reasons and perspectives, but the common thread that we've received from them is, 'I feel appalled by what's happening. I truly desire to find a method to step in,'" notes the leader.

"I believe that there was an 'lightbulb moment' for all of us as we commenced efforts on this, that this created an possibility to transition from the ice-cream on the couch, wallowing in the distress of everything that was occurring around us, to having something productive to fully engage with."

An example programme that has secured funding through the effort is work by the Alima to provide services including care for malnourished children, maternal health care and essential immunizations for kids in the country.

It is crucial to keep such programmes going, explains the economist, not only because restarting operations if they stopped would be hugely expensive but also because of how much trust would be lost in the conflict-ravaged areas if the alliance left.

"The organization told us […] 'we are concerned that if we withdraw, we may lose our place.'"

Initiatives with future-focused aims, such as strengthening health systems, or in additional areas such as education, have remained outside Pro's work. It also is not trying to preserve programmes forever but to "provide a buffer for the organizations and, frankly, the broader ecosystem, to figure out a sustainable answer".

Now that they have obtained support for each programme on its first selection, the initiative states it will now focus on assisting further populations with "proven, cost-effective interventions".