In this research we conducted a systematic reviewon Global Software Development (GSD) literature andperformed a survey to gather challenges associated with GSD projects as well as their mitigation strategies. We reviewedstudies with empirical evidence in GSD. In total there are 86papers included as the primary studies. From the systematicreview we collected 48 challenges and 42 mitigation strategies. These challenges and strategies were also identified by our survey respondents. In addition, 4 additional mitigation strategies were uncovered from the survey. The collected challenges and mitigation strategies are later compiled into checklists which can be employed as risk identification and risk mitigation instruments.