Interviews

Simona Zacharová: I believe that every citizen holds personal responsibility

Published: 29. 9. 2025
Author: Lucie Burdová
Photo: archives of Romana Zacharová
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She holds degrees from both Slovak and international universities, has completed internships and several years of work abroad, and brings experience in management, diplomacy, and politics. For the past year and a half, Simona Zacharová has served as the Slovak government’s Plenipotentiary for the Development of Civil Society. She has already accomplished much. One of the latest projects is REDIPOM, focused on the redistribution of food aid.

You and your colleagues presented the REDIPOM project to the public in the spring. What stage is it in today?
The national project REDIPOM aims to build a unified and functional system for the redistribution of food aid. In the first months of the project, we managed to collect the first relevant data from NGOs, municipalities, and partners from the business sector. We have built up cooperation with several entities and created an interdepartmental working group where the state, municipalities, businesses, NGOs, and academia all came together at one table to seek the best solutions. REDIPOM brings together all sectors and a wide range of stakeholders. The greatest challenge is aligning their interests – every participant understands the investment gap we face in this area. The project’s potential is enormous: we can help thousands of people in need, save tons of food from being destroyed, and establish a transparent and efficient system for food donations. A great inspiration for us was the visit to the Czech Food Bank, which has a well-developed system, is a relevant partner of the state, and, in addition to redistributing food surpluses, can ensure food and other essential supplies for the state in times of emergency. In Slovakia, every crisis is met with improvisation – we scramble to source food from all corners of the country at the last minute instead of relying on the nearest food bank. One of my strong motivations is to bring food to people who truly need our help – and I will do everything to achieve that.

 

In your evaluation of your office’s work over the past year, you mentioned the problem of elitism in relation to NGO funding. How to go about it?
The role of the state is to protect public finances while also supporting civil society as an equal partner. We are therefore building a system that allows for fair competition, clear rules, and public trust. In the past, a significant portion of state subsidies and public funds were concentrated in the hands of a small group of NGOs. This model is unsustainable and not in line with the public interest – NGOs should be independent partners of the state, not financially dependent extensions of it. That is why we have started setting up new funding mechanisms. We are reassessing grant schemes, tightening transparency rules, and introducing fair processes so that smaller and regional organizations also get the chance to show what they can do. At the same time, it must be said that part of the third sector has long exceeded its competences. Under the guise of “independent civic work,” some organizations engage in political games, unfair practices, and pressure on decision-making processes. The problem is not that they hold different opinions, but that they present themselves as independent while in reality pursuing political goals. A strong civil society can only function if all organizations play fairly, transparently, and without hidden political agendas.



 

There are tens of thousands of NGOs in Slovakia. How do you want to improve their functioning and communication, and how difficult was it to exempt them from the so-called transaction tax?
In Slovakia we have more than 70,000 NGOs, which play a key role in addressing societal needs. They operate in a wide range of areas, and many even step in where the state lacks capacity. We see this, for example, in social services, in crisis situations, in the work of volunteer firefighters, sports clubs, in protecting cultural heritage, or in youth work. Our task is to support these organizations and create transparent and fair conditions for them to operate. That is why we are introducing tools that improve financing, oversight, and credibility across the sector. We use modern data, digital registries, EU-funded national projects, and we build partnerships between the state, municipalities, NGOs, businesses, and academia. An example of our work is the so-called transaction tax. Together with NGOs we prepared a well-founded case for the Ministry of Finance explaining why NGOs should be exempt from this measure – and we succeeded. A concrete example: if a municipality provides a grant to buy uniforms for a children’s football club operating as a civic association, it is unfair for such support to be reduced by an additional tax. These are funds directly intended for the activities of children playing sports in their free time. There are many such examples in other areas as well. That is exactly why we defended these organizations – and succeeded. This story is clear proof that the voice of civil society experts carries weight when it is factual, data-based, and supported by dialogue. And this is precisely how I want to build future relations between the state and NGOs: transparently, in partnership, with managerial discipline – but above all fairly.

 

Like some other top politicians, including President Peter Pellegrini, you underwent training with the reserves of the National Defense Forces. What did this experience bring you?
Honestly, I believe that every citizen holds personal responsibility for the security of our country. That is why I decided to complete training with the reserves of the National Defense Forces. It was an intense experience – physically and mentally demanding, but extremely enriching. The training allowed me to get a glimpse into the lives of professional soldiers, understand their everyday challenges, and realize how important it is to build readiness for extraordinary situations both in the state and among citizens. I gained new knowledge in tactical preparation, topography, medical care, and teamwork – all things I also consider valuable for civilian life. I am convinced that a society’s resilience does not lie only in strategies written on paper, but also in the personal preparedness of all of us. And that was my main motivation – to better understand the state’s security mechanisms and to add my own experience to the work I do in support of civil society.

 


 

CV BOX
Simona Zacharová (born in 1987 in Ilava) is the Slovak government’s Plenipotentiary for the Development of Civil Society.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in diplomacy from University College Prague (2013) and later an MBA in business and commerce from the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra (2015). 
She also holds a degree in economics and management and studied project management at Florida Atlantic University in the United States (2020). In addition, she completed several internships abroad, including in the USA, Belgium, and Germany, and is a graduate of the European George C. Marshall Security Center in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. From 2016 to 2022 she worked as a business development consultant at Century Arms in Florida.
After returning to Slovakia, she spent a year as program director at ZTS Špeciál a.s., later worked as project manager for the Institute for Central Europe, and from autumn 2023 was defense and security advisor at the Israeli Embassy in Bratislava. She has served as government plenipotentiary since March 2024.

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