🔗 Share this article

These individuals describe themselves as the "emergency rescue team". Following losing their jobs when overseas aid underwent reductions earlier this year, a collective of committed staff chose to establish their own support program.

Declining to "wallow in misery", a former economist, along with like-minded ex-colleagues, began efforts to save some of the vital initiatives that were threatened with termination after the reductions.

Currently, nearly eighty programmes have been preserved by a matchmaking service managed by Rosenbaum and other former team members, which has secured them over $110m in fresh financial support. The group behind the Pro program estimates it will assist millions of people, including many children under five.

Following the agency closure, funds were halted, thousands of employees were laid off, and global initiatives either stopped abruptly or were struggling toward what Rosenbaum terms "drop-dead dates".

The former staffer and several team members were contacted by a philanthropic organization that "wanted to determine how they could maximize the impact of their constrained funds".

They built a menu from the ended initiatives, identifying those "delivering the most vital support per dollar" and where a fresh backer could feasibly get involved and maintain operations.

They quickly recognized the need was wider than that first entity and commenced to approach other potential donors.

"We dubbed ourselves the rescue team at the outset," says the leader. "The vessel has been failing, and there are too few emergency options for all initiatives to board, and so we're attempting to literally save as many young children as we can, get as many on to these rescue options as attainable, via the initiatives that are providing support."

Pro, now operating as part of a international policy center, has secured funding for seventy-nine initiatives on its roster in more than 30 regions. Several have had original funding returned. A number were could not be preserved in time.

Backing has been provided by a blend of philanthropic foundations and wealthy individuals. Most prefer to stay unidentified.

"These donors stem from varied reasons and perspectives, but the common thread that we've heard from them is, 'I feel shocked by what's going on. I truly desire to figure out a way to intervene,'" explains Rosenbaum.

"I think that there was an 'lightbulb moment' for everyone involved as we began operating on this, that this provided an opportunity to shift from the passive sadness, dwelling on the misery of everything that was occurring around us, to having something productive to really sink our teeth into."

A specific initiative that has obtained support through Pro is work by the Alliance for International Medical Action to offer support such as nutritional rehabilitation, maternal health care and crucial pediatric vaccinations in Mali.

It is crucial to continue these initiatives, explains the leader, not only because reinitiating work if they ceased would be hugely expensive but also because of how much confidence would be eroded in the war-torn regions if the alliance pulled out.

"Alima told us […] 'there is fear that if we walk away, we may be unable to return.'"

Programmes with future-focused aims, such as bolstering healthcare networks, or in different sectors such as learning, have been excluded from Pro's work. It also does not aim to preserve programmes forever but to "provide a buffer for the organizations and, honestly, the wider community, to determine a sustainable answer".

After securing support for all projects on its first selection, the initiative says it will now prioritize helping additional individuals with "established, economical measures".