progress here. This conference plays a major role as what is still the only multilateral negotiating forum devoted to global disarmament, but Geneva at the same time is the place where the World Council of Churches and the International Red Cross have their headquarters and from where important impulses go out into the world. The revolutionary events of autumn 1989 in Central and Eastern Europe did not only put an end to ossified social and political structures. They also opened up new opportunities for disarmament by overcoming the ideological division of Europe and putting an end to the cold war. The German Democratic Republic intends to play its full part both by assuming unilateral commitments and by taking an active part in the talks in Vienna and here in Geneva. In the period that remains up to the establishment of the unity of Germany, the Government of the German Democratic Republic will be pressing for tangible and verifiable steps designed to usher in a qualitatively new stage in European disarmament politics. The cessation of weapons' manufacture and reductions in the strength of the armed forces bring considerable social and economic problems in their wake for the German Democratic Republic. In order to alleviate them, conversion programmes have been elaborated and work is being continued thereon. A conversion office is being set up to co-ordinate the relevant economic and social processes. An institute responsible for the conversion of the armed forces was set up only recently to deal with the broader conditions for conversion in security policy and economic terms, and also personnel questions, military hardware, ecology and verification. CD/PV.561 page 6 We are ready to co-operate with you and to take up existing experience in this area. We are looking forward with great expectations to the conversion 
**Analysis**
The text discusses the disarmament efforts of the German Democratic Republic, particularly in the context of the end of the Cold War and the reunification of Germany. The focus is on the social and economic implications of disarmament, such as the need for conversion programs to address the problems arising from the cessation of weapons manufacture and reductions in armed forces. This suggests that the category should be related to economic and social issues.

**Category**
Industry, Employment