'We called ourselves the lifeboat crew': The way terminated aid workers initiated a rescue initiative 'aiming to rescue as many children as we can'.
They call themselves as the "salvage squad". Following their sudden termination when international support faced cuts in the past months, a collective of committed workers chose to launch their own emergency initiative.
Refusing to "wallow in misery", Rob Rosenbaum, along with like-minded ex-colleagues, began actions to preserve some of the essential projects that were threatened with termination after the funding decreases.
At present, nearly eighty programmes have been preserved by a facilitation effort managed by the leader and other former agency employees, which has secured them over $110m in recent backing. The group behind the resource optimization project initiative projects it will assist 40 million people, encompassing many infants and toddlers.
After the termination of operations, financial flows stopped, numerous staff lost their jobs, and international programmes either ended suddenly or were barely continuing toward what the leader describes as "final deadlines".
He and some of his colleagues were approached by a philanthropic organization that "wanted to figure out how they could maximize the impact of their constrained funds".
They developed a list from the terminated programmes, identifying those "delivering the most vital support per dollar" and where a alternative supporter could feasibly intervene and keep things going.
They soon recognized the need was broader than that original entity and commenced to approach additional possible supporters.
"We referred to ourselves as the rescue team at the start," states the leader. "The vessel has been failing, and there aren't enough rescue vessels for all initiatives to be saved, and so we're attempting to literally save as many babies as we can, get as many on to these lifeboats as feasible, via the programmes that are providing support."
The initiative, now working as part of a research organization, has obtained financial support for 79 projects on its list in in excess of 30 regions. Several have had original funding reinstated. Nine were could not be preserved in time.
Backing has originated from a combination of charitable organizations and private benefactors. Many wish to remain unnamed.
"The supporters come from very different backgrounds and opinions, but the unifying theme that we've encountered from them is, 'I feel appalled by what's happening. I sincerely wish to discover an approach to step in,'" says Rosenbaum.
"I believe that there was an 'lightbulb moment' for everyone involved as we commenced efforts on this, that this opened up an possibility to transition from the inactivity and despair, wallowing in the misery of everything that was unfolding around us, to having something productive to deeply commit to."
One project that has secured backing through the initiative is operations by the Alima to deliver care including care for malnourished children, maternal health care and crucial pediatric vaccinations in the country.
It is crucial to keep such programmes going, states the economist, not only because reinitiating work if they ended would be hugely expensive but also because of how much confidence would be lost in the conflict-ravaged areas if the alliance pulled out.
"Alima told us […] 'we're very worried that if we withdraw, we may never be invited back.'"
Programmes with extended objectives, such as strengthening health systems, or in different sectors such as schooling, have remained outside the project's focus. It also does not seek to preserve programmes forever but to "create a window for the organizations and, honestly, the larger network, to figure out a sustainable answer".
Now that they have obtained support for each programme on its first selection, the team announces it will now prioritize reaching more people with "tested, efficient solutions".
