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The group call themselves as the "salvage squad". Following their sudden termination when foreign assistance underwent reductions earlier this year, a collective of committed professionals opted to launch their own support program.

Declining to "wallow in misery", a former economist, along with equally dedicated past team members, started endeavors to preserve some of the vital initiatives that were threatened with termination after the reductions.

Currently, nearly eighty projects have been preserved by a connector platform managed by the economist and fellow past aid staff, which has obtained them in excess of $110 million in recent backing. The collective behind the Pro effort calculates it will assist forty million people, encompassing many infants and toddlers.

Following the agency closure, funds were halted, thousands of employees were laid off, and global initiatives either ended suddenly or were left limping toward what the economist terms "drop-dead dates".

The former staffer and several team members were approached by a foundation that "sought to determine how they could maximize the impact of their constrained funds".

They built a list from the cancelled projects, selecting those "delivering the most critical assistance per dollar" and where a alternative supporter could practically intervene and maintain operations.

They soon realised the demand was more extensive than that original organization and began to reach out to other potential donors.

"We referred to ourselves as the rescue team at the beginning," says the economist. "The vessel has been failing, and there are too few emergency options for all initiatives to get on, and so we're trying to truly protect as many infants as we can, secure spots for these lifeboats as feasible, via the projects that are providing support."

Pro, now functioning as part of a international policy center, has garnered backing for seventy-nine initiatives on its list in more than 30 nations. A few have had prior support reinstated. Several others were could not be preserved in time.

Financial support has come from a blend of non-profit entities and wealthy individuals. Most wish to remain unidentified.

"They stem from diverse reasons and perspectives, but the unifying theme that we've encountered from them is, 'I feel shocked by what's happening. I sincerely wish to find a method to help,'" explains Rosenbaum.

"I think that there was an 'aha moment' for the entire team as we started working on this, that this opened up an possibility to pivot from the inactivity and despair, remaining in the gloom of everything that was occurring around us, to having something productive to fully engage with."

A specific initiative that has found backing through Pro is work by the the medical alliance to deliver care such as nutritional rehabilitation, prenatal and postnatal support and crucial pediatric vaccinations in the country.

It is vital to keep such programmes going, explains Rosenbaum, not only because reinitiating work if they stopped would be hugely expensive but also because of how much confidence would be eroded in the war-torn regions if the group withdrew.

"They shared […] 'we're very worried that if we withdraw, we may be unable to return.'"

Projects with future-focused aims, such as strengthening health systems, or in additional areas such as schooling, have been excluded from the project's focus. It also is not trying to maintain initiatives permanently but to "provide a buffer for the organizations and, frankly, the larger network, to devise a permanent resolution".

Having found support for each programme on its original roster, the team states it will now focus on assisting further populations with "established, economical measures".