NAIROBI, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta vowed on Wednesday to continue spearheading search for peace in South Sudan as part of efforts to stabilize the East African region.

State House Deputy Spokesperson Kanze Dena said Kenyatta will on Thursday travel to Ethiopia to join other regional leaders for the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD)-led South Sudan peace process.

"Regional security remains an important factor to our national peace and development," Dena told a news conference in Nairobi.

She said Kenyatta's visit to Ethiopia where South Sudan President Salva Kiir was due to meet with his former deputy-turn foe, Riek Machar affirms the country's continued support to the ongoing peace process in South Sudan.

"In the continued search for peace and stability for our northern neighbor, Kenya will continue to support the IGAD-led process on South Sudan," Dena said.

Kiir and Machar were due to meet in Addis Ababa on Wednesday for first face-to-face talks to negotiate a power-sharing plan prepared by the East Africa bloc aimed at stopping the ongoing conflict in South Sudan.

International pressure has been growing on the South Sudan warring parties to end the ongoing conflict which UN estimates has displaced four million South Sudanese both internally and externally.

Dena stressed that Kenya will remain committed to the course of peace and stability in South Sudan as an independent arbiter within the IGAD framework.

South Sudan descended into civil war in late 2013, and the conflict has created one of the fastest growing refugee crises in the world.

A 2015 peace agreement was shattered when the warring parties renewed fighting in July 2016 in the capital forcing rebel leader Riek Machar to flee into exile.?