The United Nations said it would provide “material assisstance” to the victims of a cholera outbreak in Haiti, days after admitting its role in the spread of the diseases.

After almost 6 years of denying it had any role in the epidemic, which has killed thousands so far, the UN this week acknowledged that it bore some responsibility for the spread of the disease.

It comes after the New York Times published a report on the outbreak, after seeing a confidential draft report by one of the global body’s top human rights advisers Philip Alston. In it he says the continued denial of the UN’s role in spreading cholera was “morally unconscionable, legally indefensible and politically self-defeating.”

“As the magnitude of the disaster became known, key international officials carefully avoided acknowledging that the outbreak had resulted from discharges from the camp,” he added.

Several scientific studies that have been carried out since the 2010 outbreak trace the spread to a UN peacekeeping base where Nepalese troops were stationed which had faecal matter leaking into a local river. The bacterial strain of cholera which is currently spreading across Haiti is similar to that of a strain found in Nepal.

Cholera had previously not been seen in Haiti for a century.

For years, relatives of those killed and human rights organisations have called for the global body to admit its role. Despite attempts at legal proceedings, the United Nations claimed immunity from any prosecutions. This week though, Farhan Haq, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, admitted that the world body had a "moral responsibility to the victims".

“Over the past year the UN has become convinced that it needs to do much more regarding its own involvement in the initial outbreak and the suffering of those affected by cholera,” he added.

“This is a groundbreaking first step towards justice,” said Beatrice Lindstrom of the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), one of the lawyers oursuing legal action against the UN.