London ? Nearly 70 nations and international bodies pledged $10.5 billion to help Afghanistan fight poverty, improve security and crack down on the drug trade, officials said Wednesday at the end of a two-day conference on the nation’s future.

The pledges were intended to fund the goals set out in a five-year plan delegates signed Tuesday for redevelopment in Afghanistan, which has been torn by decades of war.

“We’ve laid the foundation for change,” British Foreign Office minister Kim Howells said in announcing the funding promises.

Dubbed the “Afghanistan Compact,” the five-year plan covers poverty reduction, economic development, counternarcotics efforts and security, and promises aid to help President Hamid Karzai’s government achieve the targets.