service). The wage disparity in the non-agricultural sector is unfortunately due to the low rate of enrolment of girls in school, early marriages and pregnancies. Indicator Table 1: Labour force status per gender in 2003 and 2011 (%) 2003 2011 Employees in the non-agricultural sector Men Women Men Women 58.7 41.3 58.4 41.6 Source: INSEED/ECOSIT2/3 297. In 2003, there were 41.3% women in employment compared to 58.7% of men. In 2011, the proportion of women working in the non-agricultural sector increased slightly by 0.03% compared to 2003. 298. The gender sensitive approach adopted to reach the MDGs is primarily based on two mutually supporting key areas: transversality and women-specific activities. 299. Transversality is based on the fact that women are not in a sector of their own; they are the targets of sectoral policies, programmes and projects. The gender gap is due to the socio-economic and cultural environment. 300. Progress made with regard to the representation of women in the National Assembly has been impressive compared to the situation in 1997, the reference year. Although the overall trend for this indicator is positive, a minimum quota for women parliamentarians should be institutionalized in the future in order to safeguard achievements in the area of gender parity in the National Assembly. 301. Greater attention to the representation of women in the National Assembly will lead to concrete development results. This is necessary in order to establish the link between the target and human development indicators, the number one goal of the MDGs. Table 15: Proportion of women in the National Assembly (%) Year 1997-2002 2002-2012 2012-2015 MPs 2 6 15 Source: Ministry of Social Action 302. The table above shows that the proportion of women in the National Assembly rose from 2% in the 1997-2002 period to 15% in 2012-2015. 303. Lastly, with a view to promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, the Government adopted innovative policies to achieve the following priority objectives: Page 65 sur 87