Children are a common basis for all dimensions of sustainable development. No advances in sustainable development will occur in coming decades without multiple generations contributing to societal improvement. Moreover, beyond sheer survival, children have a right to thrive, develop to their full potential, and live in a sustainable world.  In this statement we present the rationale for putting children at the center of anintegrated set of post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals. Many have argued that the challenges presented by sustainable development are integrated. Goals in the areas of poverty reduction, health, education, sustainable agriculture and energy, gender equality and social inclusion, and development within planetary boundaries must be tackled together, not separately. An inter-generational vision of societal development must underlie these goals; without this vision for the next generation, there will be no capacity for nations to actually bring about sustainable development.