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They refer to themselves as the "emergency rescue team". Following being let go when overseas aid underwent reductions in the past months, a collective of dedicated workers chose to establish their own rescue package.

Choosing not to "dwell on sadness", an ex-staffer, along with equally dedicated ex-colleagues, initiated efforts to preserve some of the vital projects that faced closure after the cuts.

Currently, almost 80 initiatives have been saved by a facilitation effort run by Rosenbaum and additional ex- team members, which has obtained them over $110m in recent backing. The group behind the Project Resource Optimization effort estimates it will benefit 40 million people, including many children under five.

Following the termination of operations, spending was frozen, a large workforce was let go, and projects worldwide either came to a shuddering halt or were barely continuing toward what Rosenbaum describes as "termination points".

Rosenbaum and several team members were reached out to by a foundation that "wanted to understand how they could maximize the impact of their constrained funds".

They built a selection from the ended initiatives, identifying those "providing the most vital support per dollar" and where a alternative supporter could realistically get involved and continue the work.

They rapidly realised the demand was broader than that first foundation and began to reach out to other potential donors.

"We referred to ourselves as the emergency squad at the beginning," explains the leader. "The organization has been collapsing, and there aren't enough rescue vessels for every project to get on, and so we're attempting to actually rescue as many babies as we can, place as many onto these rescue options as feasible, via the projects that are delivering aid."

The initiative, now operating as part of a research organization, has obtained financial support for numerous programmes on its selection in more than 30 countries. A few have had original funding returned. A number were not able to be saved in time.

Funding has been provided by a combination of charitable organizations and wealthy individuals. Many choose to be unnamed.

"They stem from diverse backgrounds and opinions, but the common thread that we've encountered from them is, 'People are horrified by what's happening. I sincerely wish to discover an approach to intervene,'" notes the leader.

"In my view that there was an 'lightbulb moment' for all of us as we began operating on this, that this created an chance to pivot from the inactivity and despair, remaining in the gloom of everything that was unfolding around us, to having something productive to fully engage with."

An example programme that has found backing through the initiative is work by the Alima to provide services including nutritional rehabilitation, maternal health care and crucial pediatric vaccinations in Mali.

It is crucial to continue these initiatives, explains the economist, not only because restarting operations if they stopped would be extremely costly but also because of how much confidence would be eroded in the war-torn regions if the organization withdrew.

"They informed us […] 'there is fear that if we withdraw, we may be unable to return.'"

Projects with future-focused aims, such as improving medical infrastructure, or in different sectors such as education, have been excluded from Pro's work. It also is not trying to save the projects indefinitely but to "create a window for the organizations and, truthfully, the wider community, to devise a permanent resolution".

Having found backing for every initiative on its original roster, the initiative announces it will now focus on reaching more people with "established, economical measures".