UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has called for compensation for thousands of Haitians who have died in a cholera outbreak.

Ms Pillay did not specify on Tuesday exactly who she thought should pay out, but activists have demanded that the UN provides compensation to the victims of a disease which is believed to have been brought into the country by UN peacekeepers.

"I have used my voice both inside the United Nations and outside to call for the right [to compensation], for an investigation by the United Nations and by the country concerned.