The United Nations says it needs to do "much more" to address its own involvement in the introduction of cholera to Haiti and the suffering of those affected, estimated at more than 770,000 people.
Researchers say there is ample evidence that cholera was introduced to Haiti's biggest river in October 2010 by inadequately treated sewage from a UN peacekeeping base.
The United Nations has never accepted responsibility, and has answered lawsuits on behalf of victims in US courts by claiming diplomatic immunity.
UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq's statement referring to the UN's "own involvement," which was sent to The Associated Press on Thursday, came a step closer to an admission of at least some responsibility and was welcomed by lawyers for the victims.
"This is a major victory for the thousands of Haitians who have been marching for justice, writing to the UN and bringing the UN to court," said Mario Joseph, a Haitian human rights attorney whose law firm is leading a high-profile claim on behalf of 5,000 cholera victims who blame the UN for introducing the disease.
"It is high time for the UN to make this right and prove to the world that "human rights for all" means for Haitians too," he said.
Haq said in the statement that the United Nations has been considering a series of options, and "a significantly new set of UN actions" will be presented publicly within the next two months.
He told reporters later that a UN-appointed panel already looked into the UN's involvement. It found that a local contractor failed to properly sanitise the waste at the UN base.
"We've been trying to see exactly what we can do about our own particular role as this has been going on" and how "to bring this outbreak to a close," he said.
Haq wouldn't say whether reparations were under consideration.
His statement on UN involvement was first reported by the New York Times.
Five UN human rights experts criticised the United Nations in a letter to top UN officials late last year for its "effective denial of the fundamental right of the victims of cholera to justice."
At least one lawsuit was dismissed because of the UN's diplomatic immunity claim. But a US federal appeals panel in New York is weighing whether the lawsuit that Haitian lawyer Joseph is involved in can proceed, or if the United Nations is entitled to immunity.
Haq reiterated Thursday that the UN's legal position in claiming diplomatic immunity "has not changed."
According to government figures, cholera has sickened more than 770,000 people, or about seven per cent of Haiti's population, and killed more than 9,200. As of March, it was killing an average of 37 people a month.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere and only 24 per cent of Haitians have access to a toilet. Sewage is rarely treated and safe water remains inaccessible to many.
In December 2012, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced a $US2.27 billion ($A2.95 billion) initiative to help eradicate cholera in Haiti and the neighbouring Dominican Republic, which share the island of Hispaniola, but the ambitious 10-year plan is underfunded. According to a report last November, only $307 million has been received.
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