Mecca's top authorities honored an expat street sweeper who refused to stop doing his job even during floods that hit the city last week, Sabq news site reported.

The decision to honor the man was announced in a tweet posted on the official page of Mecca's Municipality on Thursday. It came after a video capturing him hard at work despite the harsh weather conditions won over people's hearts.

The clip went viral after it was uploaded on social media, leading thousands to call on authorities to reward the man's actions.

While some were thrilled at the news of the man's honoring, others felt his name should've been mentioned by authorities. 

"A heartfelt salute to him." 

"We thank Mecca's municipality for honoring loyal employees. There are so many others like him who also deserve to be rewarded." 

"Even on the day he's honored, no one mentions his name. One day your name will be heard and you'll be rewarded by God." 

"He deserves to be honored. But to truly show gratitude to people who work in this profession with extremely low wages is to increase their salary and be paid on time every month." 

More than 774 million people (age 15 and over) around the world can't read or write, according to the Global Campaign for Education. However, over the past few decades, global literacy rates have significantly increased.

The main reasons behind this upward trend stem from the evolution of the educational system in many developing countries and an increased acknowledgment of the importance of education to these societies.

Universally, the rate of literacy refers to the ability of a country's population to sufficiently read and write. Numerous factors, such as accessibility and quality of education, can contribute to these rates.

Using data from a 2015 UNESCO report to mark the UN's International Literacy Day - celebrated annually on September 8 - we ranked Arab countries based on literacy rates (highest to lowest). 

Let's take a look below: