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These individuals describe themselves as the "emergency rescue team". Following being let go when overseas aid underwent reductions in the past months, a team of devoted professionals decided to create their own rescue package.

Choosing not to "remain in despair", an ex-staffer, along with like-minded ex-colleagues, started efforts to rescue some of the crucial initiatives that were at risk after the cuts.

Now, close to 80 projects have been saved by a matchmaking service run by Rosenbaum and other former agency employees, which has found them in excess of $110 million in new funding. The team behind the Project Resource Optimization initiative estimates it will help 40 million people, including many infants and toddlers.

After the termination of operations, financial flows stopped, a large workforce was let go, and international programmes either stopped abruptly or were left limping toward what Rosenbaum calls "termination points".

The former staffer and some of his colleagues were reached out to by a foundation that "wanted to understand how they could make the best use of their limited resources".

They developed a menu from the ended initiatives, selecting those "providing the most life-saving aid per dollar" and where a fresh backer could feasibly step in and keep things going.

They rapidly realised the demand was broader than that original organization and started to contact further funding sources.

"We referred to ourselves as the rescue team at the outset," states the economist. "The vessel has been collapsing, and there are too few emergency options for every project to board, and so we're attempting to literally protect as many babies as we can, place as many onto these support channels as feasible, via the projects that are delivering aid."

The initiative, now functioning as part of a international policy center, has obtained financial support for 79 projects on its list in more than 30 regions. A few have had initial backing returned. A number were unable to be rescued in time.

Backing has been provided by a combination of non-profit entities and affluent donors. Most choose to be unidentified.

"These donors originate from varied backgrounds and opinions, but the common thread that we've encountered from them is, 'I feel appalled by what's unfolding. I sincerely wish to figure out a way to step in,'" explains the leader.

"In my view that there was an 'aha moment' for the entire team as we began operating on this, that this opened up an possibility to transition from the passive sadness, dwelling on the distress of everything that was happening around us, to having something productive to really sink our teeth into."

One project that has secured support through the initiative is operations by the Alliance for International Medical Action to offer support including nutritional rehabilitation, maternity services and crucial pediatric vaccinations in the country.

It is essential to maintain these operations, says the economist, not only because resuming activities if they ceased would be extremely costly but also because of how much confidence would be forfeited in the conflict-ravaged areas if the group withdrew.

"The organization shared […] 'we're very worried that if we depart, we may be unable to return.'"

Programmes with longer-term goals, such as bolstering healthcare networks, or in different sectors such as schooling, have remained outside the initiative's scope. It also does not aim to maintain initiatives permanently but to "create a window for the organizations and, truthfully, the wider community, to devise a sustainable answer".

Now that they have obtained support for every initiative on its original roster, Pro states it will now focus on helping more people with "established, economical measures".