Blanca Blanco Abellan is a Project Manager in the Latin America and the Caribbean Office, Panama City.

Blanca joined International IDEA in October 2024. She is responsible for the overall direction and leadership of a capacity-building initiative aimed at supporting civil society organizations (CSOs) and media across the Central American region, including El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.

Prior to joining IDEA, Blanca worked with the Irish NGO Trócaire for over 20 years. Driven by her passion for human rights, social justice and Latin American politics she lived and worked for over 15 years in Central America, one of the most challenging environments for land and environmental Human Rights Defenders globally. She has also served as a Trustee of Global Witness for the past 3 years.

Blanca held a number of roles at Trócaire, including Programme Officer in Honduras, Country Director in Guatemala, Global Resource Rights and Human Rights Defenders Advisor, and the most recent one, Head of Global Programmes in Ireland. Before joining Trócaire, she worked as a Project Officer on an Anti-Racism Education Programme with the National Youth Council of Ireland. Additionally, she served as an advisor for the Irish Delegation at the UN World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance in Durban, South Africa, in 2001.

Blanca has undertaken research in Guatemala and Mexico in the areas of gender-based violence, gender and migration. She has published articles in English and Spanish in academic journals, authored book chapters, and peer reviewed publications, including research presented at the World Bank Land and Poverty Conference on the situation of land evictions and Women Human Rights Defenders in Guatemala and Honduras.