The group call themselves as the "lifeboat crew". Following their sudden termination when overseas aid underwent reductions recently, a team of devoted staff opted to launch their own emergency initiative.
Declining to "wallow in misery", a former economist, along with like-minded ex-colleagues, began actions to preserve some of the crucial projects that were at risk after the cuts.
Currently, close to 80 projects have been preserved by a facilitation effort operated by the leader and additional ex- agency employees, which has secured them in excess of $110 million in new funding. The collective behind the Pro effort estimates it will benefit 40 million people, including many infants and toddlers.
After the agency closure, financial flows stopped, a large workforce was let go, and global initiatives either stopped abruptly or were left limping toward what Rosenbaum calls "drop-dead dates".
He and a few co-workers were reached out to by a philanthropic organization that "wanted to understand how they could make the best use of their finite budgets".
They developed a menu from the ended initiatives, pinpointing those "providing the most life-saving aid per dollar" and where a new funder could practically get involved and keep things going.
They quickly understood the demand was wider than that initial foundation and started to approach other potential donors.
"We referred to ourselves as the rescue team at the beginning," says the leader. "The vessel has been sinking, and there are insufficient rescue vessels for all initiatives to be saved, and so we're trying to literally rescue as many young children as we can, get as many on to these rescue options as possible, via the projects that are offering assistance."
Pro, now working as part of a research organization, has secured funding for seventy-nine initiatives on its list in more than 30 regions. Several have had original funding restored. Several others were could not be preserved in time.
Financial support has been provided by a mix of philanthropic foundations and wealthy individuals. Most wish to remain unidentified.
"They stem from diverse motivations and viewpoints, but the unifying theme that we've received from them is, 'I am horrified by what's unfolding. I sincerely wish to find a method to help,'" notes the economist.
"In my view that there was an 'aha moment' for everyone involved as we started working on this, that this opened up an possibility to shift from the inactivity and despair, dwelling on the misery of everything that was unfolding around us, to having a meaningful task to deeply commit to."
One project that has secured support through the effort is activities by the the medical alliance to provide services encompassing care for malnourished children, maternal health care and vital childhood vaccines in the West African nation.
It is vital to continue these initiatives, says the economist, not only because reinitiating work if they ceased would be hugely expensive but also because of how much trust would be lost in the war-torn regions if the alliance withdrew.
"They told us […] 'we're very worried that if we depart, we may lose our place.'"
Initiatives with longer-term goals, such as improving medical infrastructure, or in other fields such as education, have been excluded from the project's focus. It also is not trying to maintain initiatives permanently but to "create a window for the entities and, honestly, the wider community, to determine a longer-term solution".
Now that they have obtained funding for each programme on its original roster, the team says it will now focus on assisting additional individuals with "tested, efficient solutions".
